Based on the coconut tree from which I fell, my IRL social circle skews heavily towards white, conservative evangelical and Catholic types. I also have an unhealthy obsession with following these same politically conservative white evangelical individuals and groups on social media.
And what’s surprising to me is, since shortly after Oct 7, it seems that the overwhelming opinion of relatively younger (let’s say under 40) people in this demo is at least some sort of soft anti-Israel opinion. The boomers, they still have that Fetterman-esque love for Israel. But younger conservatives… I usually see opinions about how we shouldn’t send Israel any more money, or acknowledging that Israel is committing a genocide. And it seems like it’s the overwhelming opinion from young conservatives, too. I’m sure there’s plenty of younger conservatives that do support Israel, but anecdotally that group feels very small.
That’s not to say I’m seeing a lot of pro-Palestinian sentiment, because I’m not. That’s probably a bridge too far for them. Also probably related to the fact that most Americans are just so incredibly ignorant about what goes on in other parts of the world, they can’t formulate full thoughts on these issues.
For months now, I’ve been all geared up to argue with anyone I know IRL who supports Israel. But it’s just never happened. Either people care or have any opinion one way or another, or they are critical of Israel. Not what I was expecting.
I wonder if AIPAC and Israel realize just how much they’ve lost younger Americans, probably for good (not that they care, they’ll just keep buying off American politicians).
I don’t think it’s mostly anti-semitism. Some of it is just standard conservative “we shouldn’t give handouts to any country”. A lot of it is being able to feel enough empathy to recognize Israel is doing something bad but not enough empathy (or just racism) to actually feel the need to take up the cause of Palestinian liberation or give the whole think more than a moment or two of thought.
Americans unsurprisingly have very incoherent views about issues beyond their own borders.
I would guess a lot of it is “why are we sending all this money to a country richer than us?” Which adds a new layer on top of the usual “isolationism” and skepticism towards “foreign aid” (to use their framing.)
Millenial conservatives still have a lot of remaining libertarian and anti-iraq-war influence.