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US Ambassador to Israel Warns American Support for Jewish State at Risk in Coming Years

Former US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew testifies before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing on his nomination to be the next US ambassador to Israel on Capitol Hill, Washington, US, Oct. 18, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis

Continued bipartisan support in the US for Israel could be at risk in the coming years, US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew warned this week.

While giving a speech at Reichman University in Israel, Lew said that fringe elements of both the Democratic and Republican parties could corrode American support for the Jewish state. 

“There are risks — in both the right and the left — of erosion on the margins that only makes it more important for there to be bipartisan support,” Lew said at Reichman University on Tuesday.

Polling indicates Americans on the far left and far right are generally much more critical of the Jewish state, as are younger voters, than their older counterparts, mirroring trends seen in Europe. 

“The question is, when you have generational change, will that be true 10 years, 20 years, 30 years from now,” Lew stated. 

In an era of intensifying polarization, maintaining bipartisan support for any individual issue is difficult, Lew claimed. The ambassador urged leaders in the United States not to allow Israel to become a divisive and heavily-partisan issue. 

“In the context of an America which is increasingly polarized, it’s harder to have bipartisan support,” Lew said. “It’s critical that [Israel] not become a partisan issue in the United States.”

The ambassador argued that Israel can maintain its support by winning over moderates from both sides of the political aisle. Though the more extreme members of the Democratic and Republican parties might be susceptible to anti-Zionism, centrist lawmakers are more likely to see the value in standing alongside an American ally with shared values, Lew stated.

“You don’t need either party to be 100 percent if you’ve got most of both. And that’s where the support for Israel is. It’s probably still close to 70 percent,” Lew said. 

Lew urged Israeli leaders to minimize conflict with American lawmakers by understanding both parties share similar interests. 

“My view is you try to keep the daylight to a minimum, not look for things that exaggerate how much space there is,” Lew said. 

Lew warned that support for the Jewish state is especially eroding among young liberals. He argued that Israel has more “work to do” in bolstering support among future generations of Americans on both sides of the political spectrum. 

He also lamented that the “enemies of Israel” are successfully demonizing the Jewish state to young Americans

“The images in America are brutal. There are enemies of Israel that are actively telling the story in a very negative way,” Lew said. 

American intelligence agencies revealed this week that Iran has encouraged and funded high-pressure disinformation campaigns among US citizens to tarnish Israel’s reputation. 

In his remarks, the ambassador batted down allegations that Israel has not taken steps to alleviate a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, pointing out that the Jewish state has delivered much-needed aid into the war-torn enclave.

“We work day and night to make sure things like humanitarian assistance are provided. And Israel needs to tell the story that it is making sure that people are getting what they need for there not to be a famine,” Lew added. 

Polls have surfaced in recent months suggesting that support for Israel may deteriorate with future generations of Americans. A poll conducted by the Pew Research Center showed that 47 percent of Democrats between the ages of 18-29 sympathize more with Palestinians than Israelis. Only 7 percent of Democrats within the same age group said they sympathized with Israelis more than Palestinians. Among Republicans aged 18-29, 28 percent said they sympathized more with Israelis than Palestinians, and 12 percent reported having more sympathy for the Palestinians.

The post US Ambassador to Israel Warns American Support for Jewish State at Risk in Coming Years first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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US Moves Patriot Missile Batteries from South Korea to Middle East

A Patriot missile battery. Photo: IDF.

i24 NewsAmerican Patriot missile defense batteries will be moved from South Korea to the Middle East, according to reports in Asian media on Friday, amid speculation over a potential military action against Iran’s nuclear program and escalating bombardments of Iran-backed jihadists in Yemen.

US President Donald Trump threatened Iran on Sunday with bombing and secondary tariffs if Tehran did not come to an agreement with Washington over its nuclear program, and the United States has moved additional warplanes into the region.

Washington and Seoul have reportedly recently agreed on the “monthslong” partial deployment of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3, in what is understood to be the first known case involving the relocation of United States Forces Korea (USFK) assets to the Middle East.

Iran in recent years has largely dropped the pretense of enriching uranium for a civilian atomic energy program, as it’s reportedly teetering on the nuclear precipice. Israel believes that a nuclear Iran represents a grave existential threat, consistent with the exterminationist antisemitism of the Islamic Republic’s anti-Israel rhetoric.

After the election of Trump, a known Iran hawk, the likelihood of an U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities has increased precipitously.

The post US Moves Patriot Missile Batteries from South Korea to Middle East first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Report: Iranian Plot to Assassinate Azerbaijani Rabbi Foiled

The Azerbaijani capital of Baku. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

i24 NewsIran enlisted the services of a Georgian drug trafficker to carry out an assassination of a prominent Azerbaijani rabbi, the Washington Post reported Saturday, citing security officials.

The plot to murder Rabbi Shneor Segal, foiled by the State Security Service of Azerbaijan in early January, also involved a plan to attack a Jewish education center, the officials said.

The plot was set in motion by an officer with Iran’s Quds Force, who met with Georgian criminal Agil Aslanov, handing him a photo of Segal and detailed instructions on how to murder him, the officials cited by WaPo said. Aslanov’s fee for the foiled hit was $200,000.

The State Security Service said the two men “worked to collect information about a member of a religious community, and sent the location of his residence and workplace to a representative of a foreign special service agency via the appropriate mobile phone application.”

Iran is known to be behind multiple plots against Israeli and Jewish targets, many of which have been foiled by Israeli and foreign security services.

However a recent plot saw three citizens of Uzbekistan murder an Israeli rabbi in the United Arab Emirates on Iranian orders. The three were sentenced to death earlier this week for the murder of Zvi Kogan in November.

The post Report: Iranian Plot to Assassinate Azerbaijani Rabbi Foiled first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Netanyahu to Depart for Washington on Sunday Directly from Hungary to Meet with Trump

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, Feb. 16, 2025. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS

i24 NewsIsrael’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will depart to Washington DC on Sunday directly from Hungary—where he is presently on an official visit—to meet with US President Donald Trump, i24NEWS learned on Saturday from an Israeli source.

The visit comes following a phone conversation between the leaders on Friday, and a call with State Secretary Marco Rubio a short while ago.

As a result, the planned visit to Washington of Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz will be postponed once again.

Topics of discussion between the two leaders are expected to include the possible military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities, the Gaza war and the future of the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave, the US bombing campaign against Iran-backed Houthi jihadists in Yemen, and the recent imposition of tariffs on Israeli products.

The post Netanyahu to Depart for Washington on Sunday Directly from Hungary to Meet with Trump first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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