Israel's decades-old support risks losing Democrats

WASHINGTON — For generations, support for Israel united Washington. Now Israel's attacks on Gaza, the Iran conflict and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's close ties to US Republicans are eroding Democratic backing, threatening to turn one of the US' closest alliances into a partisan divide.

Support for Israel among Democratic voters has plummeted, candidates critical of Israel are winning Democratic primaries and even moderate lawmakers are increasingly willing to challenge decades of US support for Israel.

The shift is evident in Congress. This month, nearly half of House Democrats voted for a failed amendment to cut off aid to Israel, legislation that once likely would have been defeated by an overwhelming bipartisan majority. Israel receives $3.8 billion annually in US military aid and received billions more in emergency funds in recent years.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and some of his lieutenants opposed the measure, calling it overly broad. But former speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark were among those voting yes.

Democrats are increasingly divided over whether military aid should continue unchanged, be restricted to defensive weapons or be halted altogether.

US Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, the leading Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he hopes Israeli elections in October will help restore bipartisan US support while opening a new chapter beyond Netanyahu's leadership.

"New governments get to change direction," Coons told Reuters, adding, "Netanyahu has kept Israel at war for years now, partly to avoid the political consequences of his choices."

Overall sentiment toward Israel is declining. A June Quinnipiac University poll found 48 percent of voters and 66 percent of Democrats believe the United States is too supportive of Israel, up from 16 percent and 20 percent when the question was first asked in 2017.

"Yes, there is a vigorous debate, but across broad segments of the parties, support for Israel remains firmly in the mainstream," said Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, in an interview.

The shift faces a major test in Tuesday's Democratic US Senate primary in Michigan where voters will weigh competing visions of US foreign policy, one of many races with Democrats openly questioning long-standing support.

Israeli policy has been a factor in other battleground congressional races, including New York, Florida and Colorado.

Meanwhile in Gaza, the strikes continue. Israeli strikes killed at least three people, including two children, in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, health officials said, as mediators held new talks with Hamas leaders to work toward full implementation of the US-brokered Gaza peace plan.

Medics said an Israeli airstrike on a tent encampment in Khan Younis killed a man and an eight-year-old girl. In the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, another Israeli airstrike hit a house killing an 18-month-old child and wounding at least eight people, medics said.

The Israeli military said both strikes targeted Hamas militants.

In Cairo, Hamas leaders were holding talks with mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Turkiye, over the implementation of the second phase of President Donald Trump's Gaza plan, as presented to them by his Board of Peace, that oversees its implementation.

The plan called for a surge in humanitarian aid, governance by a civilian Palestinian administration, the disarmament of Hamas, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the deployment of an international force to help maintain security.

AGENCIES VIA XINHUA