Generational cracks on Israel grow on the right

The Hill

a day ago

The Movement is a weekly newsletter tracking the influence and debates steering politics on the right. Sign up here or in the box below.
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.
In case you missed it, I chatted with Greene about her decision to dub Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide earlier this month.
Welcome to The Movement, a weekly newsletter looking at the influences and debates on the right in Washington. I'm Emily Brooks, House leadership reporter at The Hill. Tell me what's on your radar: [e-mail].
Not already on the list? Subscribe here
FROM BANNON GUEST TO BLS PICK
President Trump's nomination of Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) — coming after Trump fired the agency's previous head after accusing her of rigging jobs numbers — is kicking off widespread skepticism and concerns about politicization of critical data that will define Antoni's upcoming Senate confirmation.
Antoni is largely a product of the conservative movement.
Before Heritage, he was an economist at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the major conservative think tank in the state that also produced now-Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts. His profile on the site boasts of his work being featured in a litany of conservative outlets and organizations.
One of Antoni's most notable boosters was Steve Bannon, the former senior adviser to Trump who has maintained a prominent perch on the right through his ' War Room ' show. Antoni had appeared on Bannon's show.
But the selection of the ideological Antoni — and some of his suggestions for the agency — have raised eyebrows.
Antoni told Fox News before his nomination that 'the BLS should suspend issuing the monthly jobs reports, but keep publishing more accurate, though less timely, quarterly data,' since BLS data is often subject to revision.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later told Bloomberg TV that he did not support the idea of suspending the monthly job reports, while defending Antoni's qualifications.
'I was there when E.J. was interviewed, and he is incredibly qualified,' Bessent said. 'I think the most important thing here is that we get back to the integrity of the numbers, because it just became OK — just like so many things in our government — for it to get sloppy.'
Go in depth on Antoni: Trump stuns Wall Street, Washington with controversial BLS nominee, from my colleague Tobias Burns … 'Underlying motives': Why Trump's BLS pick is in for a fight, from Politico's Nick Niedzwiadek and Sam Sutton … The Partisan Economist Trump Wants to Oversee the Nation's Data, from The Wall Street Journal's Paul Kiernan.
EARMARKS BATTLE SET TO HEAT UP
With the Sept. 30 government funding deadline rapidly approaching, get ready for a big internal GOP battle over earmarks — or community project finding, as they're known in their newest form — when Congress returns.
'The return of earmarks to the annual appropriations bills has sparked a battle among Republicans on Capitol Hill, pitting fiscal hawks against members of the Appropriations Committees and their allies,' my colleague Alex Bolton reports.
The dynamic is set to complicate Republicans' path to avoiding a government shutdown, which is already tricky given they will need Democratic support in the Senate to do so.
Republican appropriators and beyond are working hard to try to steer funding to their home states, but that is set to clash with fiscal hawks who balk at any increased government spending — a sentiment that has become a core part of the GOP.
ON MY CALENDAR
Thursday, Aug. 21: The American Enterprise Institute hosts an event on 'The Power of Presence: Sustaining Progress in Reducing Chronic Absenteeism' at 3 p.m.
Monday, Aug. 25, to Thursday, Aug. 28: State Policy Network annual meeting in New Orleans.
THREE MORE THINGS
Last week in The Movement, I wrote about whether Trump's takeover of D.C. police could lead to conservatives getting more interested in cities they have historically loved to hate. Jack Posobiec, activist and editor at Human Events, had an interesting take separating conservatives into two camps, 'ruralcon' and 'citycon.' 'For decades, the American Right has been dominated by the image of the rural conservative — the pickup-driving, small-town patriot with deep roots in red-state soil. You can't help but love this guy,' he wrote. 'But there's a new archetype emerging on the New Right: the citycon — the disaffected conservative trapped behind enemy lines in a blue-state metropolis.'
Right-wing provocateur Laura Loomer had a deposition as part of her defamation lawsuit against comedian Bill Maher that was ' uncomfortably revealing,' as The Bulwark's Will Sommer put it, with NSFW 'did-she-really-say-that' digs at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
Are the Epstein files finally coming? House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said the Department of Justice will start turning over documents related to its investigation of the sex offender on Friday — a few days later than the Tuesday deadline set in the panel's subpoena that it issued pursuant to a Democratic-led motion in a subcommittee last month.
WHAT I'M READING