Tag: Israel

Most of the World Views Israel Negatively

Buck Banks

62%

Among the 24 countries surveyed in early 2025, the majority of respondents had a negative view of Israel (median 62%), according to the Pew Research Center. Just three countries had more positive responses than negative: India, Kenya and Nigeria. U.S. disapproval increased from 42% to 53% between 2022-25, with similar trends across Europe and East Asia. The data indicate a broad erosion of Israel’s global image following recent conflicts. Public confidence in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is similarly low, as most respondents express little or no trust in his leadership.

Stefanik Chides Biden in Address to Israeli Parliament

Buck Banks

“There is no excuse for an American president to block aid to Israel — aid that was duly passed by the Congress, or to ease sanctions on Iran, paying a $6 billion ransom to the world’s leading state sponsor of terror, or to dither and hide while our friends fight for their lives,”

— Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, the highest-ranking Republican woman in the House, rebuked President Biden and praised former President Trump over U.S. military support for Israel in an address to its parliament on Sunday, CBS News reported.

If You’re Not for a Two-State Solution, ‘You’re Not Morally Serious’

Buck Banks

“There’s only one solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Two states for two indigenous people between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. And if you’re not for that, if you’re not for ending the violence and for hostage release, if you’re only condemning one side and not the other, you’re not morally serious.”

— Thomas Friedman, quoted by CNN.

How Much Does Obama Hate Israel? 1.9 Billion Times

Jon Ponder
Bunker busters
Bunker busters

One of the many persistent right-wing lies about Pres. Obama is that he hates Israel. It may be true that he’s not fond of the country’s leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, a despicable figure who is closely aligned with Republicans in the U.S. Congress, a cabal that makes no secret of its contempt for the president. But there’s no evidence that Obama loves or hates Israel any more than he likes or dislikes any of America’s allies.

Writing in the Atlantic, Conor Friedersdorf summed up this particular right-wing myth about the president last summer:

[…]

Netanyahu is not Richard Nixon

Buck Banks

For twenty years, many people in Israel and in the West have expressed the hope that Benjamin Netanyahu would prove to be the Richard Nixon of the State of Israel … the Nixon who yearned to enter the pantheon of statesmen, and who defied his Red-baiting past and initiated diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. … It is amazing to recall how long this fantasy persisted.

— David Remnick, writing in the New Yorker.