Netanyahu Has Lost Middle America
Israel needs a new government whose leaders are capable of facing reality.
June 9, 2026
Whatever the long-term military consequences of the war in Gaza, its effect on the American public’s support for Israel has been catastrophic and won’t be reversed quickly. Just as Israel’s surprise 1967 victory in the Six-Day War strengthened pro-Israel sentiments in the U.S. for decades, the images of Gaza’s destruction may prove indelible.
For the first time since Gallup began measuring attitudes on this matter a quarter-century ago, more Americans sympathize with the Palestinians than with the Israelis. Democrats and independents account for much of this shift. But even among Republicans, sympathy for Israel has declined by 17 points since 2020.
The decline isn’t limited to young Americans, who favor the Palestinians by 53% to 23%, a stark reversal from six years ago, when young adults still favored the Israelis by 48% to 29%. The shift among 35- to 54-year-olds has been even sharper. In 2020 members of this age group were more sympathetic to the Israelis by 61% to 19%. Since then, their preference for the Israelis has fallen by 33 points, to 28%, while those reporting greater sympathy for the Palestinians has risen from 19% to 46%. Even among older Americans, sympathy for the Israelis has declined from 66% to 49%. Meanwhile, Americans’ support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has risen to 57%, the highest in more than two decades.
Recent events have affected attitudes toward Israel among American Jews as well. Despite their emotional attachment to Israel (which is declining among young Jews) and belief in the importance of its existence for the future of the Jewish people, 61% concluded that Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza, and 39% regard its conduct as genocide. More than half support a two-state solution. The share of American Jews who rate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s performance in office as “poor” jumped from 28% in 2020 to 48% in the fall of 2025.
Under the leadership of Mr. Netanyahu, who has served as prime minister for 15 of the past 17 years, support for Israel in the U.S. has reached historic lows, and his country is losing the battle for the future of U.S. public opinion. Overall, 70% of Americans under 50—80% of Democrats in this cohort, and also 57% of Republicans—have unfavorable attitudes toward Israel. Only 10% of Democrats under 50 have confidence in his leadership, but he isn’t doing much better—25%—among younger Republicans.
More than a decade ago, Mr. Netanyahu abandoned his country’s longstanding policy of cultivating bipartisan American support and made a hard right turn toward the Republicans. Today, Republicans over 50 are the only demographic group to give him and his country majority support, even as controversy about American policy in the Middle East rises among younger Republicans, along with anti-Jewish attitudes on the MAGA right and the radical left. Here as elsewhere, Israel’s veteran prime minister has been tactically clever but strategically foolish, leading his country into a political cul de sac.
Most Israelis care about the declining support for their country in the U.S. and elsewhere, but too many regard it as a matter of public relations. Israel needs to focus more on public diplomacy and tell its story better, they argue.
This view is a self-defeating evasion of reality. Americans don’t need to be convinced that Hamas is a gang of Jew-hating thugs. A blizzard of op-eds won’t convince them that Israel’s response to Oct. 7 complied with the laws of war or even a sense of proportion, nor will an avalanche of slick videos on TikTok. Israel’s failure is one of public policy, not public relations, and American attitudes won’t change significantly unless Israel changes course.
Israel’s current governing coalition has neither the capacity nor the will to do this. The country needs a new government whose leaders are capable of facing reality.
As Israel approaches elections this fall, I am confident of this: If its voters choose to continue the current government despite the deadly mistakes it has made, many Americans will conclude that the Israel they have supported for decades no longer exists.
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Appeared in the June 10, 2026, print edition as 'Netanyahu Has Lost Middle America'.