New York Times: Can Israel Repair Its Relations with Americans?

SadaNews - David Halbfinger, head of the New York Times bureau in Israel, says that the Gaza war, which has severely harmed Israel both materially and humanly, has also damaged its relationship with the citizens of its most important ally, the United States.

Halbfinger explains that Israel's reputation in the United States is currently in shambles, not only among universities or progressive circles but also among American voters. He points out that since 1998, opinion polls have shown more sympathy among these voters for the Palestinians than for the Israelis.

Even American Jews, who have historically been the strongest supporters of Israel domestically, have become, according to the author, more critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, and his right-wing government.

Opinion Polls

Halbfinger reported that a new opinion poll from the Washington Post showed that the majority of American Jews believe that Israel has committed war crimes after killing tens of thousands of civilians and restricting their access to food aid, while 4 in 10 of them see Israel as guilty of committing genocide.

He noted that all categories of Americans; voters, political elites, political parties, and religious groups, such as evangelicals, have been affected by the shift in opinion against Israel, adding that this shift has even led moderate Democrats in Congress to consider adopting stricter stances toward Israel, including reducing military aid to it.

To illustrate the extent of the damage to Israel's reputation, the author quoted conservative commentator Megyn Kelly in her recent conversation with famous American broadcaster Tucker Carlson on his audio program, saying, "Everyone under thirty is against Israel."

Too Late

Halbfinger questioned whether these young generations of Americans would remain distant from Israel in the long term and what pro-Israel advocates could do to reverse this trend.

He began citing a phrase from Shibley Telhami, a researcher and expert in opinion polls and a professor of international relations at the University of Maryland who specializes in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, who stated, "The time has passed."

Telhami explained, "We are now facing the Gaza generation, just as we had the Vietnam generation and the Pearl Harbor generation. There is a growing feeling among people that they are witnessing genocide in real-time, amplified by new media that did not exist during the Vietnam War. It is a new generation that sees Israel as the villain in the story, and I believe this impression will not easily dissipate."

Shibley Telhami: The new generation in America sees Israel as the villain in the story, and I believe this impression will not easily dissipate.

The Legitimacy of Israel's Existence

Halbfinger attributed to the Israeli author Yossi Klein Halevi, who was born in the United States, the statement that he was shocked during a recent tour of American universities because of the "emergence of a toxic idea" affecting the legitimacy of Israel's very existence.

However, the author notes that some believe that the end of fighting and the cessation of the horrific images from Gaza that have filled social media for two years could allow pro-Israel advocates in America to regain their balance.

He quoted Dalia Shindelin, a polling analyst and visiting researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, saying, "There is room for recovery. People tend to overestimate the extent of the damage done to Israel. Just stopping the killing will allow some to return to the comfort zone where they used to support Israel."

Shared Interests and Values

According to the author, some experts and thinkers believe that the shared interests between Israel and America in the fields of intelligence, military, and technology are very strong and well-known to officials and the public, and still constitute a solid foundation for maintaining their relationship with the same strength.

Halbfinger addressed what is said about the shared values between the two countries as a lever for the relationship between them, citing Yossi Klein Halevi, a fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, saying that such values have become a subject of debate in both countries, which are suffering from increasing political polarization.

On one hand, according to Halevi, we have the Israeli liberal narrative about the establishment of a Jewish state after the Holocaust that struggled for liberal values under continuous pressure, and on the other hand, there is the narrative of the Israeli government that sees Israel as America's forward bastion against the Islamic world, a narrative that resonates with the American right.

Halevi added that it is difficult to build a relationship between the two countries based on shared values when neither country can agree internally on its own values.

Regardless of the difficulty of repairing relationships with Americans who have distanced themselves from Israel due to the war, Halbfinger explains, experts agree that Israel will have no choice but to attempt to mend this relationship, given the degree of international isolation that Netanyahu has allowed Israel to slip into.

Source: New York Times