Generational cracks on Israel Grow on the Right
ZOA President Morton Klein said that aside from Massie and Greene, Republicans on Capitol Hill have remained “extremely strong on Israel” and argued that President Trump has been “stronger on Israel than any president we’ve ever had.”
By Emily Brooks
(August 19, 2025 / The Hill) Dramatic shifts in public opinion on Israel that have emerged as the war in Gaza drags on are not just affecting the left side of the political spectrum. Cracks are propagating in a Republican Party and right wing that have been historically supportive of the country.
Skepticism of Israel from younger Republicans is increasing as the party debates the meaning of “America First,” a dynamic that’s being reflected on some of the biggest conservative stages and megaphones even as other Republicans double down on their Israel support.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is going further than even many of her progressive colleagues in accusing Israel of “genocide” in Gaza.
Turning Point USA, the largest conservative youth group in the country, hosted a major debate at its summer conference on how much support the U.S. should give Israel — with attendees cheering both sides.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has often been the sole GOP vote against pro-Israel measures in the House as he takes a staunch noninterventionist stance on foreign policy, told me he senses a shift on the right.
“I think people are being more vocal now,” Massie said. “They’re probably saying things they thought before but were afraid to say, and now that more people are saying them, it’s sort of a cascade effect.”
Massie said he’s seen that change in support for Israel reflected in internal polls in his district that he’s conducted for the last decade.
Public surveys show the same thing. A March Pew poll found that 53 percent of surveyed U.S. adults had an unfavorable view of Israel, up from 42 percent in 2022. That negative view is most pronounced among Democratic adults, whose unfavorable views of Israel went up to 69 percent — a dynamic that is dramatically reshaping how Democratic lawmakers are approaching Israel.
But there was also a stark shift among Republicans under the age of 50, whose unfavorable views of Israel shot up from 35 percent in 2022 to 50 percent in 2025.
Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.), who is Jewish and is one of the most vocal defenders of Israel in Congress, said the increasing skepticism of Israel among younger Republicans is due to “Muslim propaganda.”
“Conservatives generally have a big heart, so those things are going to have some impact on public polling,” Fine told me in a phone interview, going on to deny widespread reports of starvation in Gaza. “The only people starving in Gaza are the hostages.”
The division, though, is not yet large enough to challenge the overwhelming Republican support for Israel.
Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, said that aside from Massie and Greene, Republicans on Capitol Hill have remained “extremely strong on Israel” and argued that President Trump has been “stronger on Israel than any president we’ve ever had.” The Trump administration has notably cited antisemitism on college campuses amid protests of Israel as a basis for cracking down on colleges and universities.
A large bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers traveled to Israel with the American Israel Education Foundation, a group affiliated with the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also traveled to Israel this month.
AIPAC spokesperson Marshall Wittmann sent me this comment: “Reps. Greene and Massie’s views and votes on Israel are more aligned with Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [D-N.Y.], Rashida Tlaib [D-Mich.] and Ilhan Omar [D-Minn.] than any of their Republican House colleagues, who overwhelmingly stand with the Jewish state. Only a few weeks ago, the House resoundingly rejected an anti-Israel amendment offered by Rep. Greene by a vote of 422-6. These extremists are in a distinct minority because they would betray an American ally that shares our values and interests.”
Massie and Greene have largely argued against U.S. support for Israel from a noninterventionist, “America First” perspective.
“They’re not a poor country. They don’t need our handouts,” Massie said. “I’ve been making the economic case, and recently started making the moral case that we shouldn’t be sending them the money because their bombing of Gaza’s led to tens of thousands of civilian deaths.”
Asked about that interpretation of “America First,” Fine pointed to the hundreds of thousands of American citizens who live in Israel. “Saying that they should all die doesn’t sound like a very America First position.”
A chunk of the anti-Israel messages circulating in right-wing circles online are clearly antisemitic — a charge that has also been lobbed at elected Republican critics of Israel.
“I always say, neither party has a monopoly on antisemitism,” Fine said of criticism of Israel from within the GOP. “I think their voices have been amplified in recent months. But you know, for every one elected Republican antisemite, there are hundreds who stand with Israel.”
Massie said of the antisemitism attacks: “I think they’re wearing the word out. … It’s ridiculous that you would say somebody’s antisemitic based on a vote on legislation.”
Still, the Kentucky congressman doesn’t expect to see many other elected Republicans to pipe up with Israel criticism.
“Everybody else is still afraid of, basically, Trump and AIPAC,” Massie said.
This article was originally published in The Hill and can be viewed here.