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By Andrew Stanton
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Republicans’ support for Israel is slipping, polls show, with divisions over how the United States should approach the longtime ally being on full display during this weekend’s Turning Point USA event.
Why It Matters
U.S. support for Israel has long been a sticking point for Democrats, but Republicans have historically been more unified in their support for Israel going back decades. But the longstanding relationship between the U.S. and Israel has faced growing pressure as many Americans have raised concerns about Israel’s role in the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Skepticism about the ongoing support for Israel in the U.S. has been increasingly bipartisan, with generational divides also emerging over the policy.
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What to Know
Prominent Republicans voiced disagreement over Washington’s support for Israel during Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest over the weekend—the group’s first major gathering since the assassination of its founder, Charlie Kirk, earlier this year. Conservatives like Tucker Carlson questioned whether the party should continue supporting Israel.
“Is it ‘America First’ to take money from a foreign lobby so you’ll send taxpayer dollars to that country? Even the question kind of answers itself, obviously it isn’t. That’s not an attack on Israel; it’s certainly not antisemitism, despite the efforts of many to claim that it is. It’s just an obvious statement,” Carlson said.
Meanwhile, Steve Bannon accused Ben Shapiro, who called out members of the conservative movement in a viral speech, of being “Israel First.”
Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty
Megyn Kelly said there is a “rift” on Israel within the GOP during an interview at AmericaFest.
Brent Buchanan, president and founder of Cygnal, a political polling and voter insights firm, told Newsweek that there are a few reasons conservative support for Israel has slipped.
“First is that forces outside the U.S. are spending immense amounts of money to shape the narrative, especially online and in alternative media. Second is America First. Younger conservatives are especially concerned with how much the U.S. gives to Israel to fund a war that they fear they'll be sucked up into boots-on-the-ground,” he said.
Younger conservatives are “less conservative versus liberal-minded and more America-First-minded,” he said. Members of Congress from both parties have still shown that they remain supportive of Israel despite the “erosion” of support from some voters, he said.
“It'll be interesting to see where this issue stands in the issue hierarchy of midterm voters late next year, when more time has passed from serious Israeli operations in Gaza. For many voters, hot-button issues are out-of-sight-out-of-mind,” he said.
What Do The Polls Show?
A recent poll from the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project and YouGov found that younger Republicans are more skeptical of U.S. support for Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister is less popular among younger Republicans. Republicans younger than 45 viewed him only narrowly favorably—31 percent compared to 29 percent unfavorably. Among those 45 and older, 59 percent viewed him favorably, and 19 percent viewed him unfavorably.
It found that 23 percent of Republicans aged 18-44 believe the U.S. should increase support for Israel, compared to 31 percent of those aged 45 and older.
The poll surveyed 1,287 Republicans from November 14-24, 2025, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
A Pew Research Center poll, from September 22-28, similarly showed growing GOP dissent on Israel. About 19 percent of Republican respondents said they felt Israel had been going “too far” in their military operations in Gaza, compared to 12 percent in December 2023 and 13 percent in September 2024.
A YouGov/The Economist poll from August showed that a majority of Republicans, 56 percent, are more sympathetic toward Israelis than Palestinians. However, that does mark a shift from earlier polls; an April 2024 YouGov/The Economist poll showed that 61 percent of Republicans were more sympathetic toward Republicans.
Those polls surveyed 1,795 adults from April 6-9, 2024, and 1,702 adults from August 1-4, 2025.
On the Democratic side, legislators and pundits have been divided over Israel for years. Prominent progressives like Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have been more critical of Israel.
But centrist Democrats have walked more of a tightrope of maintaining support of Israel generally, while voicing criticisms of current leadership. This has created tensions, which came to a head in 2024 when some progressives declined to support former Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign against Trump.
What People Are Saying
Megyn Kelly said during an interview at AmericaFest: “Charlie was with young people every day for a living, and in particular, young Republicans. And he was seeing what I was seeing in my neck of the conservative woods, which was, this party is changing on the issue of Israel. When I was at Fox, you supported Israel, period. No one was interested in your actual opinion; you just supported Israel, which was fine for me because I did. But the party started to turn after 10/7. Uniform support and sympathy for Israel on 10/7, but as the world went on two years later, people were starting to turn on them.”
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, has been a critic of Israel, writing to X on July 28: “It’s the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct 7th in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza.”
What Happens Next
Divisions remain among many prominent conservatives regarding Israel. However, most Republicans in Congress remain generally supportive of Israel.
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