Israel's bipartisan support in Washington has become a casualty of Netanyahu - opinion

ByTOVA HERZLNOVEMBER 12, 2026 17:00

Some dates acquire their significance only years later, as events unfold and consequences become clear. November 3, 2026, will not be one of them. Even as it happened, it was obvious that it was a turning point, and it would be downhill from there.

I refer to US President Donald Trump's announcement during the midterm elections that he had reached an agreement with Netanyahu to immediately end American aid to Israel.

Given the agreement reached under president Barack Obama, designed to provide Israel with an unprecedented level of assistance through 2028, the dramatic announcement came without warning.

But it is important to understand both that Trump's statement points to a larger issue, and that aid is not just aid. It represents much more.

Over the years, it has been an expression of the depth of the relationship between Israel and its foremost ally, the United States of America, and one of the instruments through which that relationship was sustained. It signaled to political and defense circles in America and around the world that Israel was a preferred partner, and strengthened our ability to deter its adversaries.

Thanks to sustained efforts by Israel and Jewish organizations, members of Congress from both parties competed over who could do more for Israel.

For most of them, being photographed with Israeli leaders was a badge of honor, and a visit to Israel was a standard feature of their campaign trail. Ties with Israel were a political asset for lawmakers, while Israel reaped the benefits of broad bipartisan support.

But as increasing numbers of Democrats – the party supported by the majority of American Jews – began to voice criticism of Israeli policy, Netanyahu abandoned the sacrosanct principle of preserving bipartisan support, which Israeli leaders and representatives had upheld for decades.

The culmination of this growing political divide was the prime minister's 2015 address to Congress, which bypassed the Obama administration – the very administration responsible for the generous aid package that Trump announced has now been cut short.

The prime minister's speech violated basic diplomatic protocol. Its attempt to prevent the nuclear deal with Iran was doomed to fail, but it helped Netanyahu score political points ahead of a tight election, just weeks away. The divisiveness that characterizes Israeli politics under Netanyahu was exported to Capitol Hill.

Since that extraordinary episode, Israel's standing in Washington has steadily deteriorated. Once Israel identified itself with one side of the American political spectrum, it ceased to be a bipartisan cause and became a divisive issue, and hence a diminished political force.

It was only a matter of time before its standing eroded on both sides of the aisle: not only among the Democrats it had alienated, but also among the Republicans it had cultivated.

The "fully right-wing government" further damaged that standing. Then came what many saw as dragging the US into a failed war.

Against this backdrop, I find myself imagining the conversations my successors at the embassy are having these days with members of Congress. I suspect that, instead of enthusiastic talk about visits to Israel, they are asked why Israel thought it could bring down the regime in Tehran.

And instead of celebrating yet another legislative initiative, like additional funding for the Arrow missile defense system, they are asked why Israel, which knows exactly where Iran's nuclear scientists are, cannot stop a "handful" of Jewish extremists from attacking Palestinians in the territories.

November 3 demonstrated how easily an asset painstakingly built over many years can be lost. The following day, November 4, marked the 31st anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination, after a sustained campaign against him and his policies.

Vance links defeat to US foreign policy

That same day, the scale of the Republicans' defeat in the midterm elections became clear. The president, who rarely accepts responsibility, acknowledged that the war with Iran had been one of the factors behind the defeat.

US Vice President JD Vance, who is expected to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2028, went further. In a lengthy post the day after the defeat, he listed four issues that, he argued, could bring voters who had abandoned the Republican Party back into its fold.

Alongside the cost of living and inflation, he included three foreign policy issues: ending the war, putting America first, and changing America's approach to Israel. It then took the president less than a week to attribute the loss to the war in Iran and to the "great dislike" for Israel.

And you, dear readers, are invited to find the thread connecting those two dates in November, to ask yourselves what will be required to repair the damage, and to consider what will happen if Israel does not change its direction and its leadership.

The writer was Israel’s first ambassador to the Baltic states after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, ambassador to South Africa, and congressional liaison officer at the embassy in Washington. She is a graduate of Israel’s National Defense College.

Follow us on Google

---