US parties: No longer naturally on Israel’s side

US parties no longer naturally on Israel's side As of: October 27, 2026 • 9:12 a.m

The USA is Israel's most important ally. But the relationship is changing. Younger US citizens in particular are critical of the Netanyahu government. This also affects the election campaigns of Democrats and Republicans.

Zohran Mamdani isn't having an easy time these days: For the Israeli Prime Minister, New York's mayor is an "anti-Semite", while for pro-Palestinian activists he is a "traitor" and "accomplice in the genocide" in Gaza. In his office, Mamdani experiences how difficult it is to move between the poles of a toxic debate about the relationship with Israel.

One side accuses him of repeatedly criticizing Israel's actions in Gaza as "genocide." Before the UN General Assembly in September, he examined whether the New York police could execute the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu.

And he is seen as a role model and promoter of a new generation of progressive candidates for the upcoming congressional elections. The pro-Palestinian activist Darializa Avila Chevalier, who played a central role in the Gaza protests two years ago, is now running in the New York district of Harlem.

Chevalier prevailed in the party's internal primaries against a long-serving member of parliament, who may even have been harmed in the end by the millions in donations from pro-Israel lobby organizations.

Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated her party's previous representative in the primary and is now running for a seat in the House of Representatives.

On the other hand, Mayor Mamdani is demonstratively seeking solidarity with New York Jews. It was only in September that he launched an ambitious program against anti-Semitism. To the surprise of many, the self-confessed Muslim has, since taking office, created a particularly harmonious working relationship with the Jewish police chief Jessica Tisch, a committed supporter of Israel. For the radical wing of his followers, such signals of compromise are pure betrayal.

The open confrontation occurred when Mamdani took part in a vigil on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on October 7th. While the mayor silently held a candle in his hand among representatives of Jewish groups, aggressive insults and anti-Semitic chants echoed at him from the other side of the police barricade.

Mamdani's participation in a vigil for the victims of the Hamas terror on October 7, 2023 sparked loud protests from pro-Palestinian activists in New York.

In the tense microcosm of New York, the deep rift that runs through the Democratic Party on the issue of Israel becomes apparent like a magnifying glass. This also applies to the Democrats in the US House of Representatives. A few weeks ago, a motion to stop all arms deliveries to Israel found, for the first time, more supporters than opponents among the Democrats, with 103 yes and 99 no votes.

After the elections in November, support for Israel is likely to become even weaker. If the progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed prevails in Michigan, it would also be a signal in the Senate that support for Israel can no longer be taken for granted.

Until election day on November 3rd, however, the issue remains one on which the Democrats cannot win anything: those who are pro-Israel will lose young voters in particular, and those who take a decidedly critical position will quickly be labeled "radical."

The left-wing health politician Abdul El-Sayed has narrowly secured the Democratic candidacy for the Senate elections in November. more

For the Democratic Party, this is déjà vu to the 2024 presidential election. Donald Trump, on the other hand, presented himself two years ago as a loyal ally of the Jewish state and at the same time promised to pacify the Middle East and not start any new wars.

With this double message, Trump managed to hold together two opposing poles in his MAGA movement. On the one hand, millions of “Christian Zionists” are core Republican voters. They see the State of Israel, the right-wing forces in the government and the settler movement as natural allies in their longing for a Greater Israel within biblical borders. They consider the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank to be “Judea and Samaria”.

The US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckebee, even admitted in a recent interview that for him biblical Israel also includes areas in Iraq, Jordan and Egypt. “Christian Zionist” lobby organizations such as Christians United for Israel (CUNI) have been pushing for years to take action alongside Israel against Iran.

Trump also relies on religious Christian fundamentalists among the nominees for his government. more

On the other side of the MAGA movement, the isolationist “America First” camp also thinks at least as radically. It has its spokesmen in prominent podcasters and influencers such as former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, former Trump advisor Steve Bannon and former congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. Because this wing of the movement is less tightly organized and, above all, digitally networked, it reaches far into right-wing extremist and conspiracy ideological circles.

Since the start of the Iran war in February, these irreconcilable ideological tensions between the two camps have erupted with full force. And they are exacerbated by the economic consequences of the war, high gasoline prices and inflation.

In order not to have to hold Trump solely responsible for the disaster, the criticism in the MAGA movement is focusing even more heavily on Israel. In his podcasts, which have been viewed millions of times, Tucker Carlson repeatedly describes the US President as Israel's puppet. He told the BBC dramatically: "I feel sorry for Donald Trump, just as I feel sorry for all slaves."

Tucker Carlson accuses Israel of manipulating US politics. This has also earned him the accusation of spreading anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.

The boundaries between anti-Semitic conspiracy narratives are easily blurred, especially since Carlson is also unwilling to distance himself from extremists like Candace Owens, Jack Jones and the neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes. They all reach millions of followers, especially among young Republicans.

“There is growing anger in the MAGA movement over the Iran War,” observes American University historian Lauren Strauss. "And the easiest way to channel it is to direct it at Republican loyalty to Israel and mobilize latent anti-Semitism in the movement." For more than 100 years, there has been the assumption that the loyalty of American Jews is not to the USA, but to other powers.

The Iran war is highly controversial in Trump's MAGA camp. Which groups are opposing each other? more

The Israel debate in the Republican Party is also a generational conflict. According to opinion polls, a majority of people under 50 now have a negative image of Israel and want to significantly reduce military aid.

For older people it's exactly the opposite: historians Strauss sees this as a profound shift: "For many, many years, the Republican Party has been seen as a bastion on Israel's side." That's no longer a given today: "What if JD Vance became president and Tucker Carlson had his ear?" She hopes such a scenario never occurs.

For years, Trump and Netanyahu presented themselves as close partners. Is this over? more

Trump, who has declared the upcoming congressional elections a referendum on himself, is dealing with the toxic issue in his own way: he is ignoring it. Recently he avoided any contact with Netanyahu. Even at the UN General Assembly in New York in mid-September, he avoided any meeting with the Israeli head of government.

This article is an expanded version of an earlier text on the topic.

This topic in the program: NDR Info | News | Oct 21, 2026 | 12:00 p.m