VICTOR JOECKS: The battle Israel still needs to win

Israel’s battlefield victories haven’t kept it from losing support among Americans.

The New York Times recently released some jaw-dropping poll results on U.S. support for Israel — more accurately, the lack thereof. Forty percent believe Israel is intentionally killing civilians. Just 25 percent say Israel is taking enough precautions to avoid civilian casualties.

There are major splits by political party and age. Fifty-nine percent of Democrats believe Israel is intentionally killing civilians. Among Republicans, it’s 15 percent. Just 12 percent of Democrats expressed more support for Israel than Palestinians. This portends that most, if not all, would-be Democrat presidential nominees will vocally oppose Israel.

Sixty-eight percent of those with a bachelor’s degree want Israel to end its military efforts before eliminating Hamas. Among those without, it’s 54 percent. This is evidence of how higher education indoctrinates students in a leftist worldview.

It’s worth looking at why support for Israel has fallen. It starts with the left’s embrace of critical theory, which has infested the American education system. This Marxist worldview divides people into arbitrary groups based on race, sex, sexual orientation, wealth or religion. It deems those who succeed as the oppressors and those who are struggling as the oppressed.

This is why so many on the left, especially on college campuses, blamed Israel for Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, massacre. They viewed the murder of 1,200 Israelis and the kidnapping of hundreds more as justified resistance against a supposed oppressor.

Then there are the left’s beliefs about colonialism, which criticize Western countries for settling other lands and expanding their influence. Leftists consider Israel an example of “settler colonialism.” Never mind that Jews first lived in Israel more than 1,500 years before Islam was founded.

Notice that this critique isn’t leveled against Muslims, who’ve long spread their religion and political power by bloody conquests. The left is also largely silent about Muslims currently slaughtering tens of thousands of Christians in Nigeria. The left applies this nonsense only to Western countries. It isn’t about advancing a neutral principle. It’s about making the Western world ashamed of our history and success.

Combine this with the propaganda and lack of moral clarity from the press, the Democratic Party and even some on the right. Israel has taken unprecedented measures to protect civilians in Gaza. That’s necessary because Hamas purposely hides its military infrastructure among the civilian population. Hamas wants Gaza Strip residents to die because it knows Western leftists will blame Israel.

Guess how many Iraqi civilians were killed during the Iraq War. In 2023, NBC reported the total was “approximately 200,000.” Yet, the U.S. military never received the blowback Israel does. Civilian casualties are both a tragedy and unavoidable if the enemy uses human shields. If Democrats wanted to save Gazan civilians, they would attack Hamas for its tactics.

The left frequently accuses Israel of starving Gazans. Yet, there is little outrage over Hamas and other looters stealing the vast majority of U.N. aid. Hamas uses what it plunders to fuel its fighting efforts. Israel is attacked for not distributing aid, but Hamas isn’t attacked for stealing it. Israel quickly signed on to a comprehensive peace plan laid out by President Donald Trump. It’s Hamas that is dragging its feet on the deal.

Unfortunately, the truth doesn’t always win out. As Charlie Kirk laid out in a letter just months before his death, Israel needs to be more aggressive in countering the falsehoods many Americans now believe.

Support for Israel, America’s best ally in the Middle East, has long had bipartisan support. More must be done to ensure it stays that way.

Contact Victor Joecks at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.