Netanyahu Wreaks Havoc With U.S. Support for Israel as Iran War Deteriorates Relations

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “wreaking havoc on Israel’s standing with Americans” as the Iran war “supercharges a deterioration in relations with the U.S.,” according to Axios, which framed the shift as a long-term erosion that is now showing up in Congress.

Axios reported that “Every Senate Democrat who’s eyeing a 2028 presidential run voted against arms sales to Israel in votes earlier this week,” and said “40 Senate Dems voted on a resolution to block arms sales to Israel, up from just 15 on a similar vote last April.”

Al-Jazeera Net

In the House, Axios said “some Democrats are turning against defensive support, including funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system,” adding that Rep. Maxwell Frost told Axios that this was “seen as insanely fringe four years ago.”

The Axios report also tied the congressional shift to polling, stating that “Israel’s polling collapse among younger Americans is hitting Congress, too.”

Axios quoted Rep. Jason Crow saying, “We need to have a discussion about how to normalize that relationship and what change is necessary; there’s no doubt about that,” and described the change as lawmakers becoming “increasingly vocal critics.”

The same Axios framing was echoed in Arabic-language coverage that said Netanyahu “has destroyed American support for Israel for an entire generation,” and in that reporting the Iran war was described as accelerating deterioration in U.S.-Israel relations.

Axios described a Senate vote pattern that it said marks a sharp break from prior support, reporting that “Every Senate Democrat who’s eyeing a 2028 presidential run voted against arms sales to Israel in votes earlier this week.”

It said “40 Senate Dems voted on a resolution to block arms sales to Israel, up from just 15 on a similar vote last April,” and the Arabic-language retellings repeated the same figures while emphasizing the “clear political shift.”

Ash-Sharq

One Arabic outlet said the report noted that “all Democrats in the Senate who are considering running for the 2028 presidential election voted against weapons deals with Israel,” and another said the shift included “aspiring candidates for the 2028 U.S. presidential election” who “voted unanimously against arms deals.”

Axios also quoted Sen. Ruben Gallego saying Netanyahu is “destroying the bipartisan nature in terms of support for Israel,” and the Arabic-language coverage likewise attributed the same characterization to Gallego.

The Axios report further connected the Senate votes to a broader change in public opinion, stating that “For every other group, Israel's favorability has collapsed since 2022.”

It quantified the polling shift with multiple declines, including “Down 31 percentage points among older Democrats (ages 50+),” “Down 22 percentage points among both younger Republicans/GOP leaners and younger Dems/Dem leaners,” and “Even white Evangelical support, which was at 80% in 2022, has slid by 15 points.”

Axios reported that the shift is not limited to arms sales and that it is extending to defensive aid, including “funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.”

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Axios

It quoted Rep. Maxwell Frost saying that the position against Iron Dome funding was “seen as insanely fringe four years ago,” but said that “multiple Democrats who voted for Iron Dome in 2021 told Axios they’re done providing financial aid.”

The Axios report also included a more specific critique from Rep. Jim McGovern, who told Axios he “cannot support more military assistance” to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said, “I’ve supported Iron Dome in the past, but there doesn’t seem to be any accountability.”

Rep. Jared Huffman was also quoted by Axios, saying he doesn’t think that position is “wildly controversial in light of what the Israeli government has said for a long time.”

Axios described a voting baseline from 2021, saying McGovern, Huffman and Pocan voted to fund Iron Dome in 2021, “along with 207 of their Democratic colleagues and 210 Republicans,” while “Just eight Democrats voted against the funding at the time,” and “two — including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) — voting “present.””

The Axios report also said Ocasio-Cortez later told a Democratic Socialists of America meeting she “will never” vote for funding to Israel, and that she later clarified that her pledge includes defensive weaponry.

While the core claims trace back to Axios, the other articles present the same storyline with different emphasis and language, including the headline framing that Netanyahu “torched” U.S. support.

The “Other” source and Axios both use the same central quote from Rep. Jason Crow about normalizing the relationship, with the “Other” version stating, “We need to have a discussion about how to normalize that relationship and what change is necessary; there’s no doubt about that,” and Axios repeating the same line.

Haaretz

The “Other” source also quotes Sen. Ruben Gallego saying Netanyahu is “destroying the bipartisan nature in terms of support for Israel,” and it adds that older Republicans and white Evangelicals are the last groups to hold majority favorable views of Israel, citing Pew polling.

In contrast, the Arabic-language outlets foreground the “entire generation” phrasing, with one saying “Axios: Netanyahu has destroyed American support for Israel for an entire generation,” and another saying “Axios reports that Netanyahu has destroyed American support for years.”

Even when they translate or paraphrase the framing, the outlets preserve the same numerical polling declines, including “31 percentage points” among older Democrats and “15%” among white Evangelicals, as well as the Senate vote shift from “15” to “40.”

The Arabic-language reporting also repeats the Axios description that the erosion began to show up in Congress, where lawmakers who had been pro-Israel were more inclined to criticize it, and it attributes the shift to Netanyahu’s policies.

Axios and the other articles tie the congressional shift to a looming political and strategic consequence, describing a “historic dilemma” for the relationship between Washington and Tel Aviv if the trend continues.

The “Other” source says the relationship with Democrats on Capitol Hill is “rapidly deteriorating,” and it quotes Rep. Pramila Jayapal warning that “People do not appreciate that Israel is just going to war whenever they want to go to war and then they expect that the United States is going to protect them with taxpayer dollars.”

openDemocracy

Axios also included a “What they’re saying” section that quoted Rep. Ro Khanna saying, “I’ve never seen public opinion change as fast on any issue, including gay marriage … as it has on the U.S.-Israel relationship,” and it quoted him acknowledging Congress is a “lagging indicator” while saying “even here, [opinion on Israel] is slowly changing.”

The “Other” source adds that Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Greg Casar said J Street’s new position on Iron Dome funding is “pretty significant,” and it quotes Rep. Mark Pocan on the idea that “They have enough money to wage the wars they’re doing, they don’t need our money, period.”

It also describes how moderates and battleground-district Democrats are feeling pressure from voters and activists, including a swing-district lawmaker who said, “It’s a problem for me in the primary,” and who warned that an anti-Israel challenger could “whittles away enough at my base where people are so pissed off about it that when they look at the congressional race they just don’t vote.”

The Arabic-language reporting frames the future challenge as complicating the “strategic relationship between Washington and Tel Aviv” and says it creates a “historic dilemma,” while also stating that voices calling for “a comprehensive reassessment of this relationship” are growing.