America’s New Relationship With Israel…It’s Complicated

Many US elected officials from both parties have broadly supported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s prosecution of the war in Gaza. Voters are beginning to view it as a needless foreign entanglement, if not a livestreamed, US-sanctioned genocide.Pete Kiehart for the Washington Post /Getty Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily. When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the stage at the United Nations last month, diplomats streamed for the exits. Three years after October 7, when much of the Western world rallied behind Israel in the wake of Hamas’ attack, the political ground has shifted. Some of the biggest changes are happening here in the US. Two years ago, Abbas Alawieh helped lead the Uncommitted movement, pressuring Democrats over Gaza. Now he’s running for Michigan state Senate, and Kamala Harris is calling him. Elsewhere in Michigan, AIPAC and its allies spent close to $30 million backing Abdul El-Sayed’s opponent in the Democratic Senate primary. El-Sayed won anyway. For some voters, the prominence of Israel itself is striking. “I don’t know why Israel has become the pivotal point,” said Mimi Price-Miletic, a Democratic voter in Michigan. “There are so many issues in this country that we should be dealing with, and you’re worried about what’s happening, like, millions of miles away?” And the divide crosses party lines. Younger Republicans are questioning US support for Israel, even as party leaders advance deeper defense cooperation. Meanwhile, AIPAC faces new challenges to its influence, as younger Jewish political groups, like J Street and Jewish Voice for Peace, offer sharply different visions for what should come next. This week on Reveal, reporter Najib Aminy follows the new fault lines forming around the US–Israel relationship and asks: As the old political consensus is tested, who gets to shape what replaces it?