Israel’s biggest setback in the United States…

The support for Israel among younger generations in the United States is dropping dramatically, while support for Palestine continues to rise. The “Israel Lobby,” the “Neocons,” and other bipartisan pro-Israel mainstream politicians fear that this shift among young Americans will become permanent. Even more striking was that young American Jews were also beginning to distance themselves from Israel. In my Sunday column, I mentioned some information indicating that this issue was discussed at the “General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America” (JFNA) held in Washington.So what about “White Evangelicals,” the most fanatical supporters of Israel in the U.S., who have no hesitation in describing themselves as “Christian Zionists”? Bad news for Israel: support for Israel is declining among White Evangelical Americans as well, while support for Palestine is rising.

The overwhelming majority of American Jews vote for the Democrats, while the overwhelming majority of White Evangelical Christians vote for the Republicans. Israel relies more on Christian Zionists than on American Jews. White Evangelicals make up one-third of Republican Party voters. The “Israel Lobby” and the “White, Evangelical, Christian Zionists,” who hold influence over the mainstream wings of both parties in the U.S. Congress, play a major role in shaping America’s Middle East policy entirely within the framework of Israel’s interests.

Support for Israel among White Evangelicals declines steadily with younger age groups. Recent surveys show this clearly. In particular, the new generation of Evangelicals known as “Gen Z” is distancing itself both from the churches and from Israel.

In fact, this is not a new development but a trend observed since the early 2020s. Israel’s open genocide in Gaza has accelerated this trend even further. Young Evangelicals are deeply disturbed by their so-called religious leaders’ enthusiastic support for Israel’s open killing of 70,000 people, 70 percent of whom are women and children.

In 2015, only 3 percent of young Evangelicals felt sympathy for Palestinians. This rate rose to 18 percent in 2018. In the same age group, support for Israel was 75 percent in 2018, but it dropped to 34 percent in 2021. In 2020, nearly half of Evangelicals aged 18–29 supported the establishment of a Palestinian state. Analysts note that the decline in support for Israel among young Evangelicals is extremely striking and unusually sharp.

Israeli newspapers have also been highlighting the steep decline in support for Israel among Evangelical youth. Commentaries by Zionist writers stressed that this dramatic trend raises concerns that Israel may lose its most important future ally.

There is even an “exit movement” among Evangelicals. According to studies conducted in 2024, around 25 million American adults have left the Evangelical faith. JD Vance, the U.S. vice president, who grew up in an Evangelical family and cultural environment, was among those who left the faith. But Vance was baptized into the Catholic Church in 2019.

A study conducted last month showed that thousands of churches are on the verge of shutting down. Evangelical writers point out that Gen Z youth are moving in a different direction and complain that the establishment of new churches has sharply declined. In short, Evangelical churches, schools, foundations, and other institutions have ceased to be attractive to young people. Young people are pursuing their careers and professions outside “Evangelicalism.” Evangelical culture has largely remained in the hands of the older generation known as the “Boomers,” those born in the decade following World War II.

In 2021, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S., Ron Dermer, said in a speech, “People must understand that the backbone of Israel’s support in the United States is Evangelical Christians. This is true both because of their numbers and because of their passionate and public support for Israel.” But research shows that this backbone has suffered serious, irreversible damage. Naturally, Israel is spending enormous sums of money to repair this damage.

The “Israel Lobby,” the “Neocons,” the “Evangelicals,” and pro-Israel mainstream Republicans and Democrats are aware that the ground Israel has long relied on in American society is slipping. That ground is burning. Meanwhile, the share of White Evangelicals in the overall U.S. population continues to decline. No matter what the Israel Lobby does, once the toothpaste is out of the tube, there is no putting it back.