The Global Story: Is the US falling out of love with Israel?

**Asma Khalid** (0:00)
Hey there, it's Asma Khalid, one of the hosts of the Global Story Podcast from the BBC.
Our show dives deep each day on one big story that looks at where the world and America meet. And as a bonus for your feed, we're bringing you one of our very best episodes of this past week. Now I've covered US politics for a long, long time. And until recently, one of the certainties here in Washington was steadfast bipartisan support for Israel. But in recent years, we've seen that waiver both on the left and to some degree on the right.
With the midterms coming up in the US and an election due in Israel, we look into the origins and implications of this major political shift, with the views from both Washington and Jerusalem. And by the way, if you do enjoy this episode, then I should mention that you all ought to check out more from our latest episodes. This week, we looked at the political chaos in the UK. 10 years on from Brexit. We also asked why the US has cut funding to AIDS programs in South Africa. And we dug into the phenomenon of young girls obsessed with anti-aging skincare products. You can find those and a whole lot more by searching for The Global Story wherever you get your podcasts. Now, on to today's show.

**Tristan Redmond** (1:16)
The idea that the United States is a staunch supporter and ally of Israel has been a political truth for decades. Whether you're a Republican or a Democrat.

**SPEAKER_3** (1:27)
America has never flinched from its commitment to the state of Israel.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:31)
America is proud to be Israel's closest ally and best friend in the world.

**SPEAKER_5** (1:37)
One thing I can say definitely will never change is the unique bond that unites the United States and Israel.

**Tristan Redmond** (1:44)
Even Barack Obama, who sometimes had a tense personal relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu, was steadfast in his support for Israel, the country.

**Barack Obama** (1:55)
While we may at times disagree as friends sometimes will, the bonds between the United States and Israel are unbreakable.

**Tristan Redmond** (2:03)
But could that all be changing?

**JD Vance** (2:06)
If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.

**Tristan Redmond** (2:15)
This is Vice President JD Vance just a few days ago, questioning Israeli attacks on Lebanon, which in his view could have imperiled a Middle East peace deal.

**JD Vance** (2:27)
Anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the president of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in.

**Tristan Redmond** (2:37)
And in the New York City Democratic primary elections on Tuesday, US support for Israel was on the ballot and lost.

**SPEAKER_8** (2:46)
There's no question Israel has been a big issue in this race.

**SPEAKER_9** (2:51)
We cannot keep paying for Netanyahu's wars with our tax dollars. Democratic voters across the country are saying this loud and clear.

**Tristan Redmond** (3:05)
From the BBC, I'm Tristan Redmond in London. And today on The Global Story, are there cracks in the historically rock-solid US support for Israel? And how is this affecting Israelis and their upcoming elections?
Here on the show, guys, we really wanted to dig into what might be behind this changing relationship between the United States and Israel.
And so to do that, we're calling on our very own expert gumshoe reporter in Washington DC, Asma Khaled, who knows her way around the city. Later on, we're gonna cross to Jon Donnison, the BBC's Jon Donnison in Jerusalem. But I'm pleased to say we're gonna spend a bit of time with Asma first, who's been doing some reporting on this, and Asma's gonna explain to us what's behind all of this. Asma, great to have you on the show.

**Asma Khalid** (4:01)
Well, thank you. Thank you for inviting me onto The Global Story to talk about this all. It's a storyline actually that I've been following over a number of years as a political correspondent. As you know, I used to be here in Washington.

**Tristan Redmond** (4:13)
So Asma, if you'll permit me, I mean, it's kind of political orthodoxy that the United States supports Israel. How have we arrived at a point where that might be changing?

**Asma Khalid** (4:24)
Well, you're correct in saying that it's certainly been conventional wisdom, that US foreign policy supports Israel. That has been the case. You can go back to the 1960s, 1970s. This was bipartisan approval across Republicans and Democrats and lawmakers. And Tristan, recently, it's become clear to me that the center of gravity appears to be shifting, particularly among Democrats. And I will say, look, this has been a slow evolution in some regards and we'll get to that in a moment.