Israel can no longer deny the shift in U.S. politics

When an Israeli prime minister jets into Washington for a meeting with the president of the United States, the red carpet is typically rolled.

But when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited President Donald Trump on July 29, that was not the welcome he received. Instead, the veteran pol, who was in town for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s memorial service, kept his head down, afraid of further irking an American commander in chief who has often expressed displeasure toward Israeli policy in the Middle East.

This anecdote underscores a fact that is becoming increasingly undeniable for Israel: The country is no longer immune from criticism. Congressional candidates who in the past would have been ostracized as extremists for even suggesting a modest cut in U.S. military aid to Israel are now in the mainstream, ousting more establishment politicians in primary races. Progressive candidates in the Democratic Party have kicked out big-money incumbents in deep-blue New York City, Colorado and Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed bested an opponent who had a much larger campaign war chest courtesy of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, better known as AIPAC.

Even the Democratic political establishment is beginning to see which way the wind is blowing. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, one of the most stalwart allies of the Jewish state in Congress, lambasted Netanyahu on the Senate floor during a March 2024 speech and encouraged Israelis to elect a new government. Rahm Emanuel, a former congressman, White House chief of staff and mayor of Chicago, made a stop at Tel Aviv University in July to excoriate Netanyahu for turning Israel into an international outcast.