In 1982, a 32-year-old marketing director of a Jerusalem-based furniture maker named Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington as the deputy to Israel’s ambassador. Recruited by an ambassador who believed the young executive should be selling Israel to Americans rather than cupboards to Israelis, Netanyahu quickly became a ubiquitous, unaccented voice on American television networks. For four decades, through nearly every office he held, he acted as the primary guardian of Israel’s standing in the United States—a task he refused to delegate because he firmly believed no one else understood it better.
The Erosion of a Bipartisan Consensus
Just over a decade ago, support for Israel stood as one of the last remaining bipartisan reflexes in American politics. Mainstream Democrats routinely backed the Jewish state, reserving their sharpest criticisms for the claim that Netanyahu’s government was obstructing a two-state agreement with Palestinians. That consensus has since evaporated. Following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre and the subsequent military campaign in Gaza, the traditional Democratic alignment with Israel fractured dramatically. In the U.S.
The political realignment reaches far beyond Capitol Hill. Progressive lawmakers such as Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland have transformed criticism of Israel into a cornerstone of their political platforms.
Partisan Collisions and the Obama Years
Netanyahu’s worldview was heavily shaped during his formative years in America, where he absorbed a deep skepticism toward the Democratic Party and secular American liberalism. As his tenure lengthened, he made little effort to conceal these inclinations. On March 3, 2015, Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress to denounce President Barack Obama’s signature nuclear accord with Iran, a speech brokered with the Republican speaker of the House without informing the White House.
The open hostility toward a popular Democratic president accelerated the alienation of the American left. Although Obama signed the largest military-aid package America had ever extended to any nation, Netanyahu routinely treated him as an adversary. He lectured him on Jewish history in the Oval Office and later leveraged those televised moments for a campaign advertisement for himself.
Embracing Trump and Alienating the Center
When Donald Trump assumed the presidency, Netanyahu embraced him as “the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House,” securing major policy wins including the relocation of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and the abrogation of the Iran nuclear deal. However, tying Israel’s fortunes so explicitly to a single polarizing American leader carried severe long-term costs. Many Americans who despised Trump transferred their loathing directly to Netanyahu.
This dynamic became acutely visible during the administration of President Joe Biden. Following the October 7 attacks, Biden flew to Israel to show solidarity and subsequently defended Israel’s military counteroffensive at serious political expense. In return, Netanyahu openly clashed with the White House. In June 2024, he published a video accusing the Biden administration of withholding U.S. weapons, a claim that the administration ultimately rejected as exaggerated—holding back a shipment of only one type of bomb. This public friction contributed to the erosion of support among moderate Democrats, many of whom concluded that loyalty would never be reciprocated under Netanyahu’s leadership.
The Domestic Coalition and International Isolation
When he assembled his government in 2022, he appointed Itamar Ben-Gvir—a disciple of the barred extremist Meir Kahane—as minister of national security. Ben-Gvir’s inflammatory rhetoric regarding humanitarian aid and the “voluntary emigration” of Gaza’s population became central evidence in the case alleging Israel’s genocidal intent, yet Netanyahu consistently refrained from removing him from power.
Netanyahu rose to power by persuading Americans on the correctness of his cause, but he governed as though persuasion were futile, leaving his nation isolated on a global stage he once navigated with ease.
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