Will the Right Join the Left?

Israel, Class Conflict, and an Emerging Alliance

I have been keeping my eye on a growing sentiment in Right wing politics that, if it gains sway, will fundamentally alter the political landscape and undermine much of the Right’s identity in the process. As support for Israel skyrockets to become the major question both parties care about, even over many domestic issues, an alignment is forming that threatens to downplay issues that have long been far more fundamental to the differences between Right and Left. Whether concern over Israel support is driving this alignment, or whether it is downstream from a growing penchant for class warfare in which Israel support is associated with the establishment, remains to be seen.

A New Alignment Emerges

According to a Data for Progress poll, 62% of Mamdani’s voters in his successful bid for New York City mayor said “his support for Palestinian rights” was a factor. It is not surprising that Democrats despise Israel as an oppressive outpost of colonialism. Just listen to Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib or Ilhan Omar. What is surprising is that voters care so much about Israel in local races where it does not make a significant policy difference. Pro Israel Democrats, like Senator John Fetterman, are becoming increasingly rare.

Republicans are more supportive of Israel, but they are undergoing a change fueled by similar sentiments. At this point, this shift is driven more by popular commentators than by actual politicians. Darrell Cooper often expresses deep concern about the plight of Palestinians but during Mamdani’s rise “couldn’t care less who runs New York.” Last June, Dave Smith said Israel betrayed Trump by launching an attack on Iran and then proceeded to apologize for supporting Trump, said his supporters should turn on him, and that he should be impeached for air strikes against Iran. Of course, Israel’s Operation Rising Lion was coordinated with the United States, but the increasingly popular narrative is that the United States essentially does whatever Israel wants.

Reflecting on the current and ideal relationship between Israel and the United States is not my focus here. Since I became politically aware of Israel’s role in our foreign policy as a teenager, I have always held the default opinion that we should not be simply sending foreign aid, including military resources, to other countries, especially when we are in debt ourselves. But I have also always thought of Israel as a strategic ally and trade partner. I resonate with J. D. Vance’s America First position that ties Israel support to United States interests. Aid to Israel, which constitutes 0.054% of the national budget, was never as important to me as domestic concerns such as entitlements at 60 to 65%, national defense more broadly at 13 to 14%, or education at 2%, and so on.

The Cost to Conservative Identity

What bothers me is the way in which Israel has become an issue that threatens not only to divide the Right’s fragile coalition, but also to create inroads for shared interests with the Left. Consider these recent developments.

Nick Fuentes, whose platform constantly targets Israel support as a primary issue, recently said on his show:

The Left has to give on immigration and the Right has to give on the free market. If the right can come down on healthcare and on a social safety net and maybe on some subsidies for education and the Left can come down on anti-white open borders stuff and they can agree we have a country, that party will win 90% of the vote and rule for a century.

At America Fest last December, Tucker Carlson, after chiding the Right for the way many of its members treat Muslims, said from the main stage:

There is a possibility for a huge coalition of decent people once they free their minds from the traps set for them by others and realize, wait a second, we all want to make this country better. And the 15% or 30% who don’t, okay? You know, good luck in Maryland or wherever you wind up, but the rest of us would like to fix it.

This, of course, begs the question of whether, if the indecent people are excised from the Right and up to 85% of the rest of the country is made up of the decent, that would not constitute a large swath of Kamala Harris voters.

James Fishback, who is running for governor of Florida, has also made condemning Israel support a major feature of his campaign. He recently told Leftist Democrat candidate L. J. Holloway that he “cosigned” her platform, was “fighting the same fight,” and agreed with her on issues such as affordable healthcare, teacher pay, energy costs, and “standing with women.”

The question at this point becomes whether Israel really has anything to do with this enthusiasm among some on the Right for what sounds like a new coalition with Democrats. Last year, Tucker Carlson cursed out a student for suggesting he was worth 50 million dollars. Imagine if the year were 2016 and Donald Trump were asked the same question. We do not have to imagine, because Trump openly bragged about his wealth as a sign of his accomplishments. Now, wealth is increasingly seen as a sign of compromise, just as support for Israel is. The two increasingly run together.

Stay the Course

My sense is that the more aggressive anti Israel sentiment on the Right is born from several factors, not the least of which is the feeling that Republican elites have betrayed their own people in favor of a foreign government that rewards them for their loyalty. Whether this is completely true or not, this moral outrage subordinates other moral considerations, including commitments to personal morality, leadership competence, and many long standing conservative domestic policy positions. In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, an Antifa cell in Oregon already proposed using Israel as a wedge to divide, and thus defeat, the Right.

If someone believes that maintaining the status quo on Israel may be necessary to keep the Right’s coalition together so that more pressing issues like immigration, education, abortion, welfare, and sexual norms can be addressed, they are now viewed with more suspicion by a growing segment than someone who is actually compromised on those other issues. All one has to do is look at social media reactions to critiques of any Right wing influencers who have made anti Israel sentiment a major issue. Even when the criticisms concern domestic issues that used to be of paramount importance, they are reframed by many as somehow related to Israel.

If traditional conservatives are going to keep their movement from losing iconic features of its character, maintain a meaningful and victorious coalition, and contrast their policy prescriptions with those of the Left, they will need to exercise tremendous bravery and wisdom. That will require resisting compromising alliances with the Left while pushing most forcefully for the issues that most directly impact the actual lives of their constituent voters. We must remember who we are.