Is Netanyahu Losing the One Ally Isr*el Cannot Replace?
For decades, Benjamin Netanyahu treated Washington as one of his greatest political strengths. He cultivated Congress, mastered American media and presented himself as the Isr*eli leader who understood US politics better than his rivals. But polling, congressional behavior and even Isr*eli strategic planning suggest the foundations beneath that relationship are changing.
America Is Changing
Pew found that 60% of Americans now view Isr*el unfavorably, up from 53% a year earlier and nearly 20 points since 2022. Among Republicans aged 18 to 49, 57% now view Isr*el unfavorably, compared with 50% a year earlier. Older Republicans remain substantially more supportive.
Gallup’s 2026 survey adds a deeper generational warning. Palestinians now lead Isr*elis nationally in sympathy, 41% to 36%, although Gallup says the five-point gap is not statistically significant. Among Americans aged 18 to 34, however, 53% sympathize more with Palestinians and 23% with Isr*elis. Republicans still favor Isr*elis overall, but their sympathy has fallen to its lowest level since 2004.
The shift also reaches a constituency long central to pro-Isr*el politics. Favorable views of the Isr*eli people among white evangelicals fell 10 points from 2024 to 74%, while favorable views of Isr*el’s government declined from 71% to 57%.
Netanyahu and the Partisan Divide
The change cannot be attributed to Netanyahu alone. Gaza, generational change and skepticism toward foreign military intervention all matter. But one major analysis argues that Netanyahu helped erode bipartisan support by confronting Barack Obama over Iran, closely embracing Donald Trump and later clashing with Joe Biden. Another prominent analysis similarly describes American public and elite sentiment as turning against Netanyahu.
That political change is increasingly visible in Washington. Forty of 47 Senate Democrats voted to block a $295 million sale of Caterpillar bulldozers to Isr*el, while 36 voted to block a sale of 1,000-pound bombs. Several prominent Democrats, including Cory Booker, Gavin Newsom and Ruben Gallego, have also rejected support from AIPAC.
$730 Million to Fight an Image Crisis
Isr*el is responding at extraordinary scale. Its 2026 budget includes roughly $730 million for public diplomacy, known in Hebrew as hasbara, nearly five times the $150 million allocated the previous year, itself already about 20 times pre-2023 levels.
The money funds a dedicated public diplomacy unit inside the Foreign Ministry, headed by a director ranked equal to the ministry’s top political official, along with a media war room that monitors 250 outlets and processes 10,000 Isr*el-related items a day. Disclosed 2025 spending included a $50 million international social-media ad buy split across Google, YouTube, X and Outbrain, roughly $40 million to host 400 foreign delegations of lawmakers, pastors, influencers and university presidents, and a $1.5-million-a-month contract with former Trump campaign strategist Brad Parscale’s firm to deploy AI tools. A separate Christian outreach effort worth up to $4.1 million geofences churches and Christian colleges across four US states, tracking congregants’ phones during worship times and retargeting them afterward with pro-Isr*el advertising.
One former Isr*eli military intelligence officer told a New York conference she had worked with 60,000 influencers worldwide since October 7, generating close to three billion views. Analysts who spoke to Middle East Eye nonetheless called the wider campaign a “triumphant failure,” and specialists interviewed about the programme questioned whether spending can fix a problem rooted in policy and credibility. One Isr*eli public-diplomacy scholar argued that Isr*el already possessed extensive communications infrastructure, but audiences increasingly do not believe the state.
Preparing for a More Independent Future
Perhaps the most revealing development is that the debate has reached Isr*eli strategic planning itself. A Newsweek article by Tom O’Connor reported that Isr*eli Consul General in New York Ofir Akunis is concerned about changing American politics and believes Isr*el may need to prepare for greater independence from Washington.
A Sunna Files account of the same discussion says Isr*el is also looking to deepen ties with India, Greece, Cyprus, Arab states and countries in South America, while watching regional alignments involving Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Pakistan and potentially Egypt. These relationships may diversify Isr*el’s options, but none currently replicates America’s combination of military support, diplomatic protection, intelligence cooperation and global political weight.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu is again testing the relationship at the highest level. On August 9, he rejected Donald Trump’s new 15-point Gaza plan, saying Isr*el would not withdraw until Hamas was fully disarmed.
The US-Isr*el alliance remains extraordinarily powerful. But its public foundations are changing faster than its institutions. Isr*el can diversify. Replacing America is another matter.
By Shizza Umer
Hyperlinked Sources
- Pew Research Center: US views of Israel, Netanyahu more negative in 2026, especially among young adults
- Gallup: Israelis No Longer Ahead in Americans’ Middle East Sympathies
- The Atlantic: How Netanyahu Lost America (Franklin Foer) [NOT LINKED: paywalled, no stable public URL found]
- Financial Times: Why America Is Falling Out of Love With Israel (Edward Luce) [NOT LINKED: paywalled, no stable public URL found]
- Al Jazeera: How Netanyahu Lost America
- Christianity Today: Evangelical Views Toward Israel Slip to New Low
- JTA: Israel Just Quadrupled Its PR Budget to $730M. Experts Say It Won’t Work
- Middle East Eye: ‘A Triumphant Failure’: How Israel’s Use of Social Media Influencers to Win Back Support Backfired
- Truthout: New Campaign Aims to Flood Churches and Christian Colleges With Pro-Israel Ads
- Newsweek: Israel Is Making Plans for a Post-America Middle East (Tom O’Connor)
- CNBC (Reuters): Netanyahu Says Trump’s New Gaza Plan Is Unacceptable
- Sunna Files: How Netanyahu Lost America
- Sunna Files: Netanyahu Trapped by His Own Strategy
- Sunna Files: Trump Closes the Iran War While Netanyahu Searches for an Imaginary Victory
- Sunna Files: As Israeli Elections Approach, Is Netanyahu Heading Towards Another War?
- Sunna Files: What Does Israel’s Balance Sheet Reveal After 1,000 Days of War?
- Sunna Files: How Did Netanyahu’s Big Moment Backfire on Him?
- Sunna Files: Israeli Investigation Exposes Major Scandal Over Iran War Claims
- Sunna Files: Israel Prepares for a Post-America Middle East
