The long-standing bipartisan US-Israeli alliance has revealed additional tensions in recent years. According to MSN, while reaffirming support for Israel’s right to exist, both conservative and liberal American officials openly denounced many Israeli government policies during 2023–2025, including Israel’s actions in Gaza, settlement growth, and internal reforms. While many Republicans stuck to supporting Israel’s war effort, a vocal “America First” faction on the right—often associated with President Trump—criticized Israeli military activities as expensive and ineffective, occasionally advocating for disengagement.
As per a Guardian report, framing Israeli activities in Gaza as violations of international law and human rights, progressive Democrats and some mainstream figures on the left called for humanitarian pauses or policy reforms. A clear party divide is evident in the speeches, resolutions, and grassroots demonstrations that have resulted from these discussions. As per the local news provider AA News, the 2025 Quinnipiac study shows 64% of Republicans and only 12% of Democrats sympathized with Israel, confirming the gap.
Conservative Critics of Israeli Policy
The Republican Party has always been overwhelmingly pro-Israel, but a growing right-wing and “MAGA” group has begun to voice disapproval of Israeli policy, especially the humanitarian situation in Gaza. As mentioned by MSN in its already mentioned report, one notable example is Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who in 2024 denounced what she described as “genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation” and became “the first congressional Republican to call Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip a ‘genocide.'”
Her words were echoed by nationalist right-wing influencers: former Trump strategist Steve Bannon and former Representative Matt Gaetz cautioned that extending the conflict in Gaza is a “political liability” for Republicans. Another report by Al Jazeera mentions Tucker Carlson, a conservative commentator and well-known talk show host at the time, also publicly deviated from the pro-Israel stance, writing “Drop Israel” in response to Israeli strikes on Iran in June 2025.
American politicians were too complicit in “years of funding and sending weapons to Israel,” according to the argument that “they should fight their own wars.” These themes have even been echoed by members of the US Congress. As per Brookings, the change in sentiment is indicative of a larger shift on the left: persistent bipartisan support for Israel has waned, particularly as pictures of misery in Gaza proliferate and “the American electorate believes that Israel’s continued attacks on Gaza are unjustified.”
As per an Al Jazeera report, a MAGA media site quoted Greene as saying, “MAGA is not for foreign conflicts. On Israel’s behalf, we bombed Iran. Yes, it was on behalf of Israel,” he said, criticizing American actions that seem to “protect” Israel. Greene also argued that it was her “job to defend Americans’ rights to buy or boycott whomever they choose” in May 2025 when she opposed a bill that would penalize Americans for boycotting Israel. Greene joined progressives Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar in voting to revoke $500 million in US missile aid for Israel in 2025, a move that was overwhelmingly rejected by the GOP-controlled House of Representatives. This was a stunning departure from party convention.
According to Heritage Foundation experts in 2025, the wording of these criticisms is consistent: conservative pundits contend that Israel’s right-wing government is incompatible with “America First” principles. Washington should “reorient its relationship with Israel” towards an “equal strategic partnership” instead of an unqualified alliance.
Liberal and Progressive Critics of Israeli Policy
Opposition on the left, particularly among progressives, has centered on the legal and humanitarian ramifications of Israeli government actions. As mentioned by The Guardian, a number of Democrats in Congress have publicly referred to Israel’s Gaza war as a violation of international law and asked for American assistance to save civilian lives. Thirteen progressive House Democrats, including Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Cori Bush sponsored a ceasefire resolution in October 2023, calling on President Biden to provide humanitarian relief to Gaza and “immediately call for and facilitate…de-escalation and a ceasefire.”
Israel’s attack was condemned by Representative Tlaib as a “collective punishment of millions of Palestinians,” a war crime that cannot be remedied “with more war crimes.” Mentioned by St. Louis Public Radio, another prominent advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza was fellow Democrat Cori Bush, who called Israeli military activities “ethnic cleansing” and warned that the ongoing shelling was causing a “starvation” disaster for people.
Progressive lawmakers have challenged support for Israel through US law outside of formal resolutions. As per The Guardian, a group of Democrats used the Leahy Human Rights Act in late 2023 to challenge the $14.3 billion arms deal that Trump had signed for Israel, claiming that Israeli strikes had “overwhelmingly harmed civilians” and would be illegal under US law. Reports of Israel’s use of white phosphorus were openly mentioned by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who called the use of such weapons in inhabited areas “a war crime” and insisted that US aid not be used to support forces engaging in “gross violations of human rights.”
Asserting that “not $1 of US aid should be used to commit human rights violations,” Minnesota Representative Betty McCollum has introduced legislation on multiple occasions to forbid the use of any US funds in Israel’s occupation policies. Her 2023 bill would forbid American assistance from funding home demolitions or annexations. Even while these laws haven’t passed, leftist groups like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and J Street support them, and about a dozen House Democrats have either sponsored or co-sponsored them.
Democratic Party politicians outside of Congress have expressed disapproval of Israeli policy. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the Senate majority leader, made news in March 2024 when he chastised Prime Minister Netanyahu on the Senate floor, saying that he had “lost his way” and urging Israelis to think about choosing new leaders. As per Politico, Schumer claimed that Israel’s security and reputation abroad were in danger because Netanyahu’s government refused to accept extreme settlers and its suspension of humanitarian help. The previously mentioned Guardian report also names a few other senators.
Sen. Sherrod Brown stated that “the sooner that Netanyahu is gone, the better” for peace prospects, while Sen. Patty Murray cautioned that Netanyahu’s far-right coalition opposed any two-state solution. Even prominent Democratic advocate and independent Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) denounced Israel’s Gaza war as “morally unacceptable and a violation of international law,” calling for the abandonment of annexation aspirations and the repatriation of displaced Palestinians. Together, Senators Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley, Elizabeth Warren, and Sanders pushed the administration and Congress to impose explicit restrictions on additional aid to Israel.
Conclusion
Overall, there was a unique convergence throughout the years 2023–2025: strong opposition to certain Israeli government activities was expressed by Americans from both political extremes. Right-wing nationalist conservatives attacked Israel mainly to denounce American participation in Israel’s conflicts, including using moralistic language to describe humanitarian crises. Progressives on the left invoked human rights and the law to denounce those same practices as serious injustices.
Bipartisan support for Israel as a country is still high in spite of these criticisms; the question is which government policies to support or oppose. America First and humane internationalism are two opposing ideologies that have sparked heated policy discussions in Congress and elsewhere. These ideological divisions will probably influence US discourse on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for years to come as regional events continue to develop.
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The views and opinions expressed in this article/paper are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Paradigm Shift.
Ayesha Saeed is an international relations graduate with a strong interest in diplomacy, global politics, peace and conflict studies, and climate change. Her work focuses on research and understanding how international systems affect global peace and sustainability. She is especially interested in how countries cooperate to solve issues like conflict and climate change.