Young Republicans Turn Away from Israel

In a report published Monday about declining support for Israel among younger segments of the Republican Party, which previously supported everything Israel did, the newspaper noted that in the months following October 7, 2023, Republican debate nights on the issue at the University of Miami College became increasingly violent and hostile.

The disagreement, according to the newspaper, was expected and encouraged among the 120 members of the Ohio College's conservative group. But this time, a small, albeit powerful, faction refused to support the position held by many members that the United States should financially and militarily support Israel's war on Gaza, recalled Andrew Belcher, a freshman at the University of Miami at the time.

Two students left the group in anger and never returned, said Belcher, who now heads the College Republican Club.

Nearly two years later, many club members, along with a broader cross-section of younger Republicans, are increasingly frustrated with the Israeli government's hostilities in Gaza, Lebanon, and, more recently, Iran.

“The fallout from October 7 (2023) broke this deep emotional connection to Israel,” said Belcher, a 20-year-old junior.

Unwavering support for Israel has been a cornerstone of Republican Party policy in recent decades. In 2015, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress at the invitation of Republican leaders, sharply criticizing the Obama administration's negotiations with Iran. At a press conference last February, Netanyahu told President Donald Trump, from whom the United States withdrew the 2015 nuclear deal, that he was "the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House."

However, according to the newspaper, right-wing views are shifting. Last March, the Pew Research Center found that Republicans and Republican-leaning independents were more negative toward Israel than in 2022. Most of this shift came from Republicans under the age of 50. In 2022, 63% of Republicans under 50 had a favorable view of Israel; now, they are roughly split, with 48% positive and 50% negative.

By comparison, the generational divide on the left regarding Israel is narrowing. The percentage of older Democrats and Democratic-leaning respondents who view Israel unfavorably has increased by 23 percentage points since 2022.

The division within the Republican Party became apparent in the wake of the US strike on Iranian nuclear facilities this month. A Quinnipiac University poll conducted last week showed that while 7% of Republicans over the age of 50 believe the United States is overly supportive of Israel, 31% of Republicans between the ages of 18 and 49 agree.

"These generations view Israel differently—less heroic or righteous, and more controversial," the newspaper quotes Amnon Kavari, an associate professor at the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy, and Strategy at Reichman University in Israel. "What used to be occasional news stories portraying Israel's strength in the face of threats have become a constant stream of reports questioning Israel's actions and America's role in enabling them. As a result, support for Israel is declining."

Online polls conducted in 2024 showed Trump winning 43% of voters aged 18 to 29, a seven-percentage-point increase over 2020. This support indicates growing support for his "America First" platform, which promotes a nationalist framework that prioritizes domestic interests over foreign policy. Despite the close relationship between Israel and the United States, young Republicans who spoke to The Washington Post believe it is time for the United States to separate its priorities from those of Israel.

“For America to be first, the Stars and Stripes (the American flag) should take precedence over the Star of David (the Israeli flag),” said Josiah Newman, 20, a junior at Xavier University.

Newman, a conservative who sits on the Republican Party leadership at his alma mater, grew up in a Christian family in Buffalo (according to the newspaper). A trip to Jerusalem a decade ago strengthened his belief that Israel is the land of “God’s chosen people.” But in the months since October 7, 2023, his frustration has grown that there is no end in sight to the war between Israel and Gaza. Seeing the rubble of Gaza on social media has left Newman wondering whether American taxpayer money is supporting Israel’s destructive campaign in Gaza. “We give Israel $3.8 billion a year,” he said. “Given our own problems, even in Buffalo, the crime we have here, the fentanyl epidemic, I don’t think it’s being addressed as well.”

Neumann said that most of his Republican friends on campus agreed that Israel's reliance on American weapons and aid was harmful to the region and did not serve American interests. Eventually, he began showing his parents, who are staunch supporters of Israel, pictures and videos of the situation in Gaza from social media. Even his parents became more receptive to seeing headlines from Gaza: famine, humanitarian aid cut off to the region, bombing, and even civilian areas reduced to rubble. Their hearts go out to those people, too, Neumann said.

On Newman's social media pages, images of dead Gazan children shattered his initial belief that the war was between the "good" Israelis and the "bad" Hamas and Gazans in general. He blamed Fox News and right-wing Christian media for "dehumanizing" Palestinians by downplaying the death toll.

“They don’t humanize the death toll, and even if they do see a number, it’s misleading,” he said. “The reality is, civilians are dying.” Belcher, a junior at the University of Miami, said he gets his news online primarily from personalities like Joe Rogan and Matt Walsh, and platforms like X. He is more hesitant to fully trust corporate media outlets like Fox News and CNN, believing they don’t tell the full story of Israel’s war on Gaza. “I get most of my information from podcasts, Twitter, and real-time updates as they happen,” he said. “I feel like older generations still typically rely on cable and newspaper news, and the information is either delayed or more of a manufactured narrative.”

Eric Flurry, associate professor of government and international relations at Connecticut College, says young Republicans prefer news from sources that present themselves as more credible and challenge authority. After the invasion of Iraq and the war in Afghanistan, young Americans' distrust of traditional media has increased.

Younger Republicans tend to dismiss Fox News and other broadcast media as part of a traditional media framework, regardless of their ideological orientation. They prefer more "credible" news without studio censorship.

Although he supports Israel's right to defend itself, Belcher has grown increasingly skeptical that the recent US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites were an attempt at further escalation that could necessitate prolonged US intervention. However, Trump's recent pursuit of a ceasefire between the two countries has made him confident that the president prioritizes US interests.

"There has to be a recognition that we have some control here, that we have a say in what Israel does. I have complete confidence in Trump," he said.

Young Republicans also expressed more nuanced views of the campus protests against Israel's war in Gaza than conservative leaders, who largely condemned the demonstrations for making Jewish students feel unsafe. According to a May University of Maryland poll, more Republicans aged 18 to 34 view the campus protests as a reflection of Israel's actions in Gaza rather than as motivated by anti-Semitic attitudes. Although no encampments have been set up on her campus at St. Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana, Alicia Morales, 20, has criticized the nationwide college protests calling for a boycott of Israel. However, the junior, who serves as vice president of the college Republican Club, was supportive of a flower vigil on her campus last spring to mourn the deaths of children killed in Gaza. Morales, 20, is a member of the National Committee of the Collegiate Republicans of America.

"It's not the children's fault. They never asked for this," said Morales, who is also a Republican National Committeeman representing Indiana. "Unfortunately, civilians are the ones who suffer because of the government. It's heartbreaking that a child has to pay the price for a war that was never their fault."

The young republic supports Israel's war against Hamas and the June attacks on Iran, but it has also acknowledged a shift in its policies toward an "America First" agenda.

She trusts Trump's ability to prolong the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, and hopes it will end the conflict in Gaza.

"I'm not entirely sure how this conflict will end. But any destruction of human life is bad." "Israel has the right to be upset, but there is also a time when we need to calm things down."