Are US Democrats turning against Israel? | Global News Podcast

Welcome to the global news podcast from. the BBC. Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. And. [snorts] today we're joined by our. correspondent Brent. in Washington. And Brent, we're talking. to you today because the Israeli Prime. Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in town. at a time when relations are strained. How would you characterize the the. current state of the relationship. between the US and Israel? >> Well, even though President Trump is. very quick to say that he's Israel's. best friend that they've ever had in.

Washington, it's quite clear that that. relationship's coming increasingly under. strain, in particular because of the the. conflict in Iran. It's no longer clear. that the US and Israel are on the same. page. Uh there's been quite a lot of concern. even from other Republicans about the. perception that there wasn't any. daylight between Trump and Netanyahu. Um. some, including in in President Trump's. base, uh have increasingly been under. the impression that Israel dragged the. US into this war, which was never very.

popular with Americans. So, it is also. politically expedient for President. Trump to kind of present a little. distance between him and Prime Minister. Netanyahu. Uh but it's quite clear. things are are much more uh perhaps. tense now than they were when Operation. Epic Fury began back in February. >> Now, some of the strongest criticism has. actually come from the Democrats. There. was a recent vote where more than a. hundred of them in the House of. Representatives voted to cut off aid to. Israel. Now, that didn't pass, but just.

a few years ago that kind of thing would. have been unthinkable. What's going on? >> Well, this is a kind of a shift in. perceptions we started to see back in. 2023 when the war in Gaza began. Uh. among many Democrats, there was a huge. exasperation that President Biden at the. time didn't uh cut military aid to. Israel uh it in in light of the civilian. casualties that were mounting very, very. quickly in Gaza. And it's become. something that's really become quite an.

emotional and and powerful issue for. many voters, particularly many. Democrats. And I think we're starting to. see that reflected by Democratic. lawmakers on Capitol Hill. That they. they no longer want to necessarily be. seen as being. close ally to Israel or someone who's. extending a helping hand to Israel. financially or militarily. because of the war in Gaza and more. recently because of the war in Iran. Many Democrats also share that view that.

Israel kind of helped convince President. Trump to launch this war, which among. Democrats is extremely unpopular. And I think now we're starting to see. lawmakers for their own political future. kind of turn their backs on on Israel a. bit. And that's something we've seen. increasingly since October of 2023. >> Yeah, some top Democrats, including. possible presidential contenders, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Senator Cory Booker, have said they will.

refuse money from the pro-Israel. lobbying group AIPAC. Now, for those who. don't know, just tell us what AIPAC is. And and what do you make of that stand. taken by those Democrats? >> Well, AIPAC is essentially a lobbying. organization that. works to promote ties between the US and. Israel. And it's something that's been. enormously influential in the past. They. they throw quite a lot of money around. in elections for candidates that they. see as being pro-Israel or someone who.

would help make Israel's case on Capitol. Hill and to the White House. And and that's something that's kind of. been a fact of US politics for for many. many decades. That started coming under. much more scrutiny after the war in Gaza. began as well. And. some Democratic circles, particularly in. the kind of far left of the party, it. became kind of something of a black mark. to be seen as taking money from an. organization that is promoting Israeli.

interest in the United States. Uh I. think now, as I mentioned, it's become something. that to many voters, particularly young. voters, they don't like necessarily to. see their candidate having any sort of. campaign contribution that they see that. they would then have to do something for. with regards to Israel. Um of course, AIPAC has pushed back strongly on all. these suggestions that it's somehow an. extension of Israel's government, but.

that idea has been out there, and I. think especially once images of the war. in Gaza started coming out, it's. something that voters uh began began to. scrutinize a little more, and they many. lawmakers are are keenly aware of that. and don't necessarily want that. perception around them, particularly. going into any sort of midterm or. election season. >> You mentioned younger voters. Is this a. a generational shift? Cuz we saw a very. different attitude from the then. President Joe Biden after Israel was.

attacked back on the 7th of October. >> Well, polls show very clearly that there. is a huge generational shift in. perceptions about Israel. Many older. Americans are more likely to view Israel. favorably and view US contributions to. Israel, whether financially or. militarily, as a good thing. Whereas. younger voters uh skew very much the. other way. The last poll I saw in that. regard, there was a 20-point difference. between younger voters and older voters. about whether or not they view Israel.

positively. Um and and that's something. that I think especially the the younger. edge of voters, voters that have come of. age in the last several years or perhaps. uh kind of in in the just before they. turned 18 and could vote were presented. with the images of what was happening in. Gaza. Those are voters that are very. strongly against Israel's government. But now you're seeing kind of younger. candidates as well. I think Zohran. Mamdani in in New York is a great. example who represent to many people. that worldview that Israel is is not.

necessarily America's friend. So I think. that really does present a very. long-term challenge to Israel because. it's no longer clear that that support. that has been ironclad for decades, really since kind of Israel's inception, that won't necessarily be the case in. the next few years. And I think that. really has changed the dynamic of the. US-Israeli relationship as it's seen. here in Washington. >> Now, there was some suggestion during.

the last presidential election that the. the Gaza issue had an impact at least in. the state of Michigan. Could Israel-US. relations affect upcoming elections, the. midterm, and then the next presidential. election? >> Well, both yes and no. Polls show that. when it comes to Americans headed to the. ballot box to vote, foreign policy. really isn't the top thing on their. minds. They're much more concerned with. the economy and their daily finances. I.

think, for example, in the upcoming. midterms, one issue that many Americans. will have number one in their minds is. the issue of rising petrol prices. because of the war in Iran. That, of. course, in the minds of many is something that's. tied to to Israel and that perception. that I've mentioned of Israel kind of. dragging the US into this war. At the. same time, there are younger voters for. which this is perhaps the biggest. foreign policy issue. And you know, I think in in combination,

it really could be a factor. certainly in in the upcoming midterms as. this is all of still very fresh in. everyone's mind. But Uh, US ties with. Israel is something that comes up in. presidential debates every four years. and I suspect given the events of the. last few years, it'll very much play a a. prominent role in the foreign policy. discussions once Americans head to elect. a new president, even if it's still kind. of somewhat far behind the economy in. terms of what people are thinking about.

when they head to those polls. >> Now, we talked about the Democrats. Is. this also a difficult issue for some. Republicans? Certainly we've we've seen. some debates in the the the right-wing. podosphere, as it were. >> Indeed, and I think particularly within. that core Make America Great Again MAGA. base of President Trump, there is much. more split opinion about Israel than was. the case in the past. Earlier in this. administration, just a few months ago,

we saw the head of the National. Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, who. was something of a MAGA darling. He. resigned from his position because in. his view, Israel tricked the United. States into uh, joining this conflict and I think that's. a perception that's now shared among. some of the more. uh, conservative members of the MAGA base. There's also many people within that. MAGA base that are against foreign aid.

uh, and military aid and sending money. overseas and weapons overseas, full. stop, including to Israel. Uh, and. Israel is the largest recipient of US. military aid. So, I think. there is very much a split between that. MAGA base and Republicans such as the. late Lindsey Graham, who was really an. outspoken supporter of Israel and and. someone who was seen as very close to. Israel on Capitol Hill. There's there's. a. very visible split within Republicans.

over Israel. >> Right. Thank you, Ben Wedeman there in. Washington. If you'd like to hear more. from the Global News podcast, click the. link below. Thanks for watching.