Rare Agreement with Young Republicans
By 
Look, when you are right, you are right and in this case young Republicans are right: Support for Israel’s genocidal campaigns is bad and young people across the political spectrum fall somewhere between highly skeptical and horrified that American support of Israel killing whoever it wants, whenever it wants, and for whatever reason it wants (under the aegis of revenge for 10/7, which gets more dubious with each bombed hospital and food aid station). Support for these policies is much more about age than political party.
Almost two years later, many of the club’s members, alongside a broader swath of young Republicans, are growing increasingly frustrated with the Israeli government’s hostilities in Gaza, Lebanon, and most recently, Iran.
“The fallout of Oct. 7 kind of broke that very emotional attachment to Israel,” said Belcher, 20, a junior.
Stalwart support for Israel has been a cornerstone of GOP politics in recent decades. In 2015, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech to Congress at the invitation of Republican leaders, lambastingthe Obama administration’s negotiations with Iran. In a news conference this February, Netanyahu told President Donald Trump,who withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal, that he was “the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House.”
But views on the right are shifting.In March, the Pew Research Center found that Republicans and Republican-leaning independents were more negative toward Israel than in 2022. Most of the shift came from Republicans under age 50. In 2022, 63 percent of Republicans under 50 had a positive view of Israel, and now they are roughly split, with 48 percent positive and 50 percent negative.
By comparison, the left’s generational divide on Israel is narrowing. The portion of older Democrats and Democratic-leaning respondents who view Israel negatively increased by 23 percentage points since 2022.
The GOP’s rift was evident in the aftermath of the U.S. strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities this month.A poll conducted by Quinnipiac University last week found that while 7 percent of Republicans over age 50 thought the United States was too supportive of Israel, 31 percent of Republicans aged 18 to 49 agreed with the sentiment.
“These generations perceive a different Israel — less heroic or righteous, and more controversial,” said Amnon Cavari, an associate professor at Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at Reichman University in Israel. “What once were occasional news stories portraying Israeli strength in the face of threats have become a steady stream of reporting that questions Israel’s actions and America’s role in enabling them. Consequently, support for Israel is declining.”
Good. We should not support genocide. And one more clear fact on this issue. First, the horrible history of the Holocaust does not give Israel special dispensation to kill at will. Two, I am glad Democrats are largely still leading on this issue, though don’t tell Joe Biden or Chuck Schumer. But the party’s voters are acting, or at least they did in the New York primary.