Key conservative senators have intensified their support for the state of Israel amid rising support for anti-Israel intervention efforts, as well as American political candidates who champion Israel’s enemies.
A recent report from Axios found support is declining in an unprecedented fashion among the political Right, which historically has favored Israel’s fight against Islamic terrorism.
Much of the declining support for the Jewish state comes as the Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has entered into sustained wars against radical Islamic militias and regimes since Hamas raped, killed, and kidnapped over 1,000 Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, 2023.
Since then, the United States has spent around 0.38% of its annual defense budget on Israel.
However, many lawmakers, arguing that Israel continues to fight America’s enemies abroad, hope that trend reverses in the long run.
“Israel is a strong democracy in a region where terrorist regimes and organizations are dead-set on destroying its statehood, killing its people, and erasing its way of life—exactly the same things they want for America,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told the Daily Signal. “The United States and Israel share the same enemies, and those enemies all hate our shared Judeo-Christian values that form the foundations of both our countries.”
Scott’s remarks come after Democratic Socialist candidates—who have been seen flashing headbands from Hamas and refused to condemn terrorist attacks on Jewish citizens in Colorado—won their congressional primaries.
“Because of those shared interests, Israel and the United States have worked together to make the Middle East, and the world, a safer, freer place for decades,” Scott continued. “Our partnership delivers greater security, greater innovation, and weaker enemies for both America and Israel, and it does that without putting American servicemen and women in harm’s way.”
The Iranian regime and Iranian-funded militias such as Hezbollah and Hamas, which Israel is currently battling on multiple fronts, have historically maintained a campaign aimed at dominating the United States and Western civilization, not just the Jewish state.
Israel has eliminated between 1,000 and 2,5000 Hezbollah fighters in 2026 alone.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., after the Iranian regime refused to comply with the terms of the ceasefire the president’s administration had outlined, wrote on X that Israel “is our democratic ally fighting Hezbollah, Iran’s terrorist proxy with American blood on its hands.”
“President Trump is right: Iran needs to restrain its terrorist proxy, the U.S. should never restrain Israel from defending itself. And if Iran won’t act, we should back Israel to the hilt,” Cotton continued.
In April, Sen. Jim Risch, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, opposed the Democrat-led War Powers Resolution measure, which aimed to limit the president’s military authority in the Middle East. On the Senate floor, he said that passing the resolution “would send the message that the United States is prepared to leave Israel vulnerable to further Iranian attacks and put the tens of thousands of Americans living there at risk.”
