Netanyahu torched U.S. support for Israel for a generation
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is wreaking havoc on Israel’s standing with Americans as the Iran war supercharges a deterioration in relations with the U.S.
Why it matters: Israel’s polling collapse among younger Americans is hitting Congress, too. Lawmakers who started out staunchly pro-Israel are becoming increasingly vocal critics.
- “We need to have a discussion about how to normalize that relationship and what change is necessary; there’s no doubt about that,” Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) told Axios.
Zoom in: Every Senate Democrat who’s eyeing a 2028 presidential run voted against arms sales to Israel in votes earlier this week.
- 40 Senate Dems voted on a resolution to block arms sales to Israel, up from just 15 on a similar vote last April.
- Netanyahu is “destroying the bipartisan nature in terms of support for Israel,” Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) told Punchbowl News.
Over in the House, some Democrats are turning against defensive support, including funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.
- That was “seen as insanely fringe four years ago,” Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) told Axios.
- But multiple Democrats who voted for Iron Dome in 2021 told Axios they’re done providing financial aid.
Israel asked the White House for clarifications about President Trump’s post that Israel was “prohibited” from conducting airstrikes in Lebanon, a U.S. source and another source familiar tell Axios.
Why it matters: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his advisers were shocked by Trump’s post, which contradicted the text of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon that the State Department published on Thursday.
- The implication of Trump’s post — that he was issuing an order that Israel had no choice but to obey — would have been unthinkable under other U.S. administrations.
- Netanyahu was personally stunned and alarmed when he learned of the post, the sources said.
Catch up quickly: Trump announced on Thursday that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a 10-day ceasefire.
- The U.S. had been pressing for such a truce for several days, while working in parallel on a peace deal with Iran.
- According to the agreement, Israel reserves the right to take military action, even during the ceasefire, “in self-defense, at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks.”
- Israel committed not to take offensive military operations against Lebanese targets, including civilian, military and other state targets.
- The ceasefire is incredibly politically sensitive for Netanyahu, and his government has emphasized that it is not constrained from striking Hezbollah if necessary.
On Friday, Trump used starkly different language:
- “Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer. They are PROHIBITED from doing so by the U.S.A. Enough is enough!!!”
- In an interview with Axios Trump reiterated that he wants Israeli strikes on Lebanon to end.
- “Israel has to stop. They can’t continue to blow buildings up. I am not gonna allow it,” he said.