JERUSALEM (AP) — In the span of about 24 hours, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested cut aid to Israela staunch critic of Israel won a key Senate race and the vice president partly blamed his own party’s crushing defeat on U.S.-Israeli relations.
The rupture caused by Israel devastating military campaign in Gaza and war launched jointly with Iran destroyed bipartisan American support for Israel that dates back decades. The Democrats are fiercely divided on Israel, and the Republicans are more and more critical of his actions.
In Israel, criticism of the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuse him of having mismanaged relations with the country’s closest ally. But the gap is much deeper and likely to persist. even if a new government is formed after last week’s elections.
On the left, Americans increasingly view Israel as an international pariah because of the war in Gaza and violent expansion of colonies in the occupied West Bank. On the rightsome view Israel as undermining Trump’s “America First” pledge, accusing him of dragging the United States into a costly and unnecessary war with Iran.
“Something fundamental has changed,” said Michael Oren, a historian and former Israeli ambassador to the United States. “My working hypothesis is that the call to suspend military aid is only the beginning. »
The political landscape is changing left and right
It remains unclear whether Trump’s remarks about ending some $4 billion in annual military aid to Israel, made in an interview with Fox News, represent official policy or whether it was simply a last-ditch attempt to sway voters on Election Day. The White House did not respond to a request for more details.
Netanyahu has repeatedly called Trump the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House. During his first term, Trump upended decades of American politics by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and legitimize Jewish colonies considered illegal by most of the international community. During his second term, he joined Israel in two wars against Iran.
Hours after Trump’s remarks, election results poured in, showing a massive wave of Democratic victories across the country, including in the swing state of Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed handily beat his Republican rival. El-Sayed accuses Israel of genocide in Gazaallegations which he vehemently denies.
American Vice President J.D. Vanceconsidered a possible favorite to succeed Trump, sought to distance himself from the war in Iran and adopted a more critical tone towards Israel.
In an autopsy posted to social media the morning after the election, Vance said an anonymous pollster, “one of the smartest people I know in politics,” told him that Republicans needed to do four things to bring back voters: “1) End the war 2) Focus on cost of living/inflation 3) Put America first 4) Change our relationship with Israel.”
“This clearly does not bode well,” said Chuck Freilich, a former deputy national security adviser to Israel. Vance’s call for change “resonates with a certain part of the Republican Party, with Tucker Carlson and a more right-wing, isolationist, MAGA part of the party,” he said.
Cutting aid would be a “significant unilateral change”
For decades, the United States has provided billions of dollars in aid and advanced weapons to Israel, while protect him from criticism at the UN and other international forums.
Supporters present the aid as an investment in a powerful and reliable ally in a dangerous region. Critics like El-Sayed say this has supported Israel’s settlement expansion, seriously undermining prospects for a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
After the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, the Biden administration bypassed Congress to approve emergency arms sales. He suspended the sending of 2,000-pound bombs at the height of the Gaza war, but continued to provide military aid. Trump also approved billions of dollars in arms sales to Israel. Last year, an academic study found that the United States had provided $21.7 billion in aid in Israel since the start of the war in Gaza.
Michael Singh, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said a cut in U.S. aid “would definitely leave the Israelis in a difficult situation, and it would constitute a significant unilateral change in the U.S.-Israeli relationship.”
Israel should finance its own purchases of American-made weapons, either by borrowing money or raising taxes, said Singh, who was the senior Middle East director at the National Security Council under former U.S. President George W. Bush.
Netanyahu said he wants to wean Israel US military aid over the next 10 years. The goal would be to move toward a more balanced partnership, in which Israel would no longer rely on U.S. taxpayer dollars while sharing its own considerable technological and intelligence capabilities.
“The prime minister has worked with President Trump to make the right transition from aid to partnership and mutual investment,” Doron Spielman, Netanyahu’s spokesperson, said in a recent interview with Fox. Netanyahu did not comment on Trump’s remarks.
A new Israeli government would face the same pressure
Netanyahu lost his parliamentary majority in last week’s elections, but it is far from certain that his opponents will be able to replace him.
A new government led by Netanyahu’s main rival, the former military chief Gadi Eizenkotcould take steps to help mitigate criticism, such as cracking down on rampant settler violence. But he would largely continue the policies towards the Palestinians and the region as a whole, which angered many Americans.
This disconnect was made clear earlier this week when Yair Lapid, a leading member of the anti-Netanyahu coalition, said on X that a new government should send representatives to the United States to engage with the White House, Congress and local leaders to repair relations.
Brad Lander, a newly elected Democratic representative from New York who was briefly detained by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank last month, said Lapid did not understand.
“As someone who won a seat in Congress last night and cares about Israel: you are not listening to what American voters – Jewish and non-Jewish – are saying. We are not hungry for a campaign tour. We are hungry to see respect for international law and human rights,” Lander wrote.
Freilich, the former Israeli security official, said that if Netanyahu ultimately remains in power, “the downward spiral will deepen and perhaps even get worse.”
If Eisenkot wins, “then he can begin a process that will perhaps even be generational. It will certainly take 10 to 20 years to repair the damage caused by (Netanyahu),” Freilich said.
Gn usa
