US Political consensus on Israel is starting to break down
JVL Introduction
Israel and its genocide on Gaza is breaking the US political consensus. This article starts with Charlie Kirk but goes much deeper. We knew that may who supported the “Make America Great Again” are angry that their tax dollars were propping up a welfare state in Israel while ordinary US residents were still paying through the nose, eg for health care.
There was pressure on Charlie Kirk, the darling of the right to address the issue: “What people don’t understand is that upwards of 40 or 50 percent of the questions Charlie would receive, the challenges he received… were attacking Israel and attacking Charlie for being so pro-Israel… It drove him crazy that he got so many questions about Israel,” Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, explained in a YouTube remembrance of the conservative activist.
And it seems that much of the concern, even on the right, was also about Israel’s murderous actions in Gaza and the power of the Israel lobby which is explored further here.
LL
This article was originally published by Mondoweiss on Wed 24 Sep 2025. Read the original here.
Charlie Kirk’s death has revealed Israel is as polarizing on the right as it is on the left
An unexpected consequence of the killing of MAGA activist Charlie Kirk is the fierce debate among the right about negative attitudes toward Israel and the influence of the Israel lobby in American politics.
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People should not run away with the idea that Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Green represent anything more than a beginning of questioning of the utility of Israel to US imperialism.
The fact is that the overwhelming majority of Republican Senators and congress members support Israel’s genocide as do a large proportion of their Democratic equivalents.
If we wait for the US ruling class to decide that supporting Israel is not a good idea then we will be waiting forever.
I listened to most of Carlsson’s rant and I found it pretty disgusting. The humanity of Palestinians and the horrors they experience are not what he is about it is whether Israel should be verboten as a topic. His views on migrants are as detestable as those of Trump.
I fear that Philip Weiss is indulging in a dose of wishful thinking