Finally, the Dam Shoring Up Support for Israel Seems to Be Breaking

The longer-term impact of all of this cannot be overstated, especially given the demographic divide so clear in these numbers. The younger you are, the more likely you are not just to disapprove of Israel’s actions but also to see them as genocidal. Unlike their parents, who grew up thinking about Israel in the context of genocide and seeing it as a historic victim, the generations that will inherit America see it as a perpetrator. This is the new public context in which U.S.-Israel relations will take shape in the years to come. Perhaps this is finally the Abu Ghraib moment, where public unease crosses the line into public anger and opposition over our actions.

If Zohran Mamdani’s primary election victory in New York is any indication, the genocide in Gaza, and American support for it, will also help shape Democratic Party politics in the years to come, and probably national politics as well, given that independents trend much more closely with Democrats on this issue than with Republicans. The Democratic race for the nomination in 2028, much like 2008, might hinge on how right a candidate is perceived to have been on the most pressing moral question facing this generation: the genocide in Gaza.

For the children of Gaza, however, who are being starved and bombed to death every day, there is little time to waste wondering how this will play out in the years to come. They need immediate action now. Gimmicks like airdrops or performative recognition of Palestinian statehood are mere distractions. Real and urgent action from Western leaders in the form of ending all support for the Israeli military and imposing sanctions on its leaders is needed to bring an end to this monstrous genocide.