JERUSALEM — The fallout from Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections has sent shockwaves through Israeli politics, sparking deep concerns over the future of the alliance between Washington and Jerusalem as political leaders struggle to form a new domestic government.
Anxiety escalated sharply after President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News that he planned to halt $3.8 billion in annual U.S. military assistance to Israel two years earlier than scheduled. The declaration landed with force across the Israeli political spectrum, described by Israel’s president as “a bolt from the blue,” according to the BBC. While the Israeli prime minister’s office later argued that moving toward a strategic partnership reflected the “strength and sophistication” of bilateral ties, defense analysts cautioned that crucial access to American-built aircraft, spare parts, and missile defense systems could grow increasingly complicated under a Democrat-led Congress.
Fallout Across Washington
The political reverberations in the United States arrived as Republicans suffered significant losses in the midterms. Vice President JD Vance pointed to the joint war against Iran and the broader relationship with Israel as primary reasons behind the electoral setback. At the same time, newly elected Democrats, including Michigan Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed, captured seats after campaigning on platforms sharply critical of Israel’s military operations in the region and U.S. defense aid.
Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States, warned that the midterm outcome marks “half a century of the US-Israel relationship as we have known it” coming to an end, The Jerusalem Post reported. Academic researchers similarly noted that longstanding bipartisan support has fractured. Shibley Telhami, director of the University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll, observed that negative public attitudes toward Israel in the U.S. extend beyond Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself, suggesting that a simple leadership swap would not quickly restore relations to previous levels.
Deadlock in Jerusalem
The turmoil from Washington has landed directly in the middle of Israel’s own fractured electoral landscape following national elections held on Oct. 27. Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc secured 53 seats, falling short of the 61 needed to build a majority in the Knesset. An opposition bloc led by former military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot captured 48 seats, with Arab-led parties holding another 19 seats.
Eisenkot’s path toward building a coalition gained momentum on Thursday when longtime Netanyahu ally United Torah Judaism declined to endorse the prime minister for the first time since 2009. Opponents have seized on the U.S. election results to argue Netanyahu’s foreign policy has isolated the nation.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid asserted on social media that American voters were pushing back against extremist cabinet ministers and government policy, while Avigdor Lieberman argued Trump’s threat to cut aid came as an electoral tradeoff for backing Netanyahu.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has yet to formally task any lawmaker with forming a cabinet. Israeli defense commentators stress that whichever leader takes charge will face the urgent challenge of managing relations with an increasingly divided Washington before the current U.S. administration ends.
