How Netanyahu lost America

What the report says

Al Jazeera published an opinion piece by Washington-based journalist Said Arikat arguing that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has damaged Israel’s long-standing bipartisan support in the United States by aligning the country more closely with the Republican right. The article was published on July 31, 2026, as Netanyahu was visiting Washington, DC, and cited an Economist/YouGov poll released July 28 in which 49 percent of Americans said he should be arrested under the International Criminal Court warrant, while 47 percent said they believed he had committed war crimes in Gaza.

Arikat’s central argument is that the shift predates the October 7, 2023 attacks and the war in Gaza, but was accelerated by them. He identifies Netanyahu’s 2015 address to Congress, arranged with Republican leaders during Barack Obama’s presidency over the Iran nuclear deal, as a key moment when many Democrats saw Israel’s leader as taking sides in US domestic politics. The piece says Donald Trump’s presidency later reinforced Netanyahu’s approach through moves including recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, moving the US embassy and withdrawing from the Iran nuclear agreement.

The article says the Gaza war has further strained relations, despite President Joe Biden’s wartime support for Israel, including military aid and diplomatic backing. It argues that Netanyahu’s public disputes with Washington, resistance to US proposals for post-war governance and the conduct of Israel’s campaign in Gaza have deepened skepticism among Democrats and younger Americans.

Al Jazeera’s opinion piece frames the issue as strategically significant because bipartisan US support has long been central to Israel’s security and diplomatic standing. It concludes that without a credible political path for Palestinians, Israel risks a more unstable relationship with its most important ally.