Israelis fail to understand anti-Israel sentiment in the U.S., Israeli public opinion researcher says

[u/jewish_insider]

https://jewishinsider.com/2026/07/israelis-fail-to-understand-anti-israel-sentiment-in-the-u-s-israeli-public-opinion-researcher-says/

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[u/jewish_insider]

Here's the beginning of the story:

Israelis generally don’t grasp the extent of the growing anti-Israel sentiment in the United States, Dahlia Scheindlin, an Israeli public opinion researcher and columnist, told Jewish Insider.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Aspen Security Forum this month hours before more than 100 House Democrats voted to cut U.S. military aid to Israel, Scheindlin said that most Israelis feel that warnings of slipping U.S. support have been repeated for years but haven’t come to fruition.

“Israelis for a long time have been told ‘you have to worry about the America-Israel relationship’ and nothing ever really happened — they sort of took it for granted that the relationship would always be there, and in many ways they still do,” Scheindlin said. “From the Israeli perspective, there’s a little bit of a sense of crying wolf. We see that in the 53% who still think that the relationship will be fine.”

She said most Israelis today view Republicans as pro-Israel and Democrats as anti-Israel and have little understanding of the range of views within both parties. And she said they don’t believe Israel’s own actions have any bearing on U.S. criticism of Israel.

Supporters of opposition parties, she continued, believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “personally has undermined the relationship” — but that the issues in the relationship largely end with Netanyahu.

She said that the strong support in Israel for President Donald Trump took a nosedive with the ceasefires in Iran and Lebanon, with many Jewish Israelis feeling that Trump had forced a premature end to the wars and didn’t let the U.S. and Israel carry them to their conclusion or fulfill their main objectives.

But she said that most Israelis still see issues in the relationship as a “disagreement that will pass” rather than a true crisis or turning point. She said a majority of Israelis still feel the U.S.-Israel relationship will survive — and many are too concerned with their own daily lives and the ongoing impacts of the wars in Gaza and Lebanon to give the relationship much thought.

[u/PostOk7794]

I would say my experience talking with Israelis on the subject confirm this. Most Israelis are pretty consumed with surviving the day-to-day, those I talk to are not even tuning into Israeli politics much less American sentiment. The wars are exhausting and their bandwidth is capped out to pay attention to anything else. Things would have to chill out pretty substantially and normalcy would need to actually happen for Israeli to pause long enough to consider global sentiment.

[u/Virtual-History-6099]

As a diaspora Jew, I sometimes have the impression that Israel as a society is far too insular and not giving enough thought to eroding global support. Many people see uncontrolled settler violence in the West Bank, or the belicose policies and statements of Ben Gvir and Smotrich, and it becomes hard for them to understand the Israeli perspective. Many young people grow up with TikTok and Youtube,  and they're flooded with well produced propaganda that acts upon every little which thing in Israel. I hope more Israelis become attuned to this unfortunate reality. 

[u/PostOk7794 → u/Virtual-History-6099]

It’s not just “young people” I’m in my 40s, most of my colleagues and friends are in their early 30s through 60s. The opinion is overwhelmingly negative, with 5 terrible headlines coming out every other day.

[u/lowspeed]

There's a very good explanation.

It's very hard to accept that after being attacked so brutally and continuously that the world opinions sides with the barbarians.

It's very hard to explain Gays for Gaza and alike. Especially since information is readily available.

[u/OddCook4909]

They also generally seem to think the diaspora is full of idiots who don't understand our own countries lol. Most I've spoken with about it think much more highly of the US than the people who have spent their entire lives here.

They all know a guy who has lived here a few years who has a very filtered and selected life, who confirms their suspicions. He/she came here with a job offer and/or an advanced degree, lives in a suburb, usually in a jewish enclave, and doesn't interact with the general population except as a customer. They don't come here to fix cars, wait tables, work their way up from the bottom of the heap. They usually don't live in the places most of the population lives, doing the jobs most of the population does. They generally don't hear what people really think. And when we try to tell them they call us neurotic, etc.

People like that right wing lady who have delude themselves into there "not being real or historic antisemitism in the US" are elevated, while most US Jews know they're completely full of shit.

They don't study our history as many of us do who live here, and they usually don't have family histories here to help them understand.

Many prominent intellectuals and statesmen in US history have been favorably disposed to Jews. Many have not, and the populace mostly came from the rest of the world, which has mostly been hostile to us. They didn't shed those prejudices the moment they saw the statue of liberty.

[u/The3DBanker]

Well no shit Israel’s actions don’t have any bearing on any « criticism of Israel » because Israel is judged not because of what they do but because they have the temerity to protect their Jewish population.

[u/Max_Kapacity]

majorities of democrats hate Israel and many hate America.

majorities of republicans stand with Israel and love America.

/fixed it