The GOP infighting on Capitol Hill has expanded to an unusual place: Israel.
For years, GOP leaders have used U.S. support for Israel as a wedge to highlight the stark divisions among Democrats, pitting Israel’s staunchest allies against pro-Palestinian liberals and challenging Democratic leaders to ease the tensions. Republicans, through it all, were virtually united on the issue.
Yet Israel’s long-running war against Hamas in Gaza, where the Palestinian death toll has topped 60,000 and recent images of starving children have prompted a global outcry, is now creating headaches for GOP leaders, as well.
While a vast majority of congressional Republicans still support Israel’s war effort, the party’s united front has cracked in recent weeks as members of a small but vocal isolationist wing — some invoking President Trump’s “America First” mantra — have pushed to slash U.S. military aid to Israel, forcing GOP leaders to stage uncomfortable votes that have accentuated growing divisions toward Tel Aviv in the Republican Party at large.
This week, that clash escalated when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a staunch conservative and close Trump ally, hammered a fellow Republican House member for supporting Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza — a label rejected by GOP leaders and, until now, applied by only a small group of liberal Democrats in the Capitol.
Other congressional conservatives have also aired sharp criticisms of Israel’s war strategy, suggesting the starvations are intentional almost exactly one year after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress at the invitation of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
“Standing with Israel means eliminating every barbaric Hamas terrorist,” Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Texas) posted on the social platform X. “It also means rejecting the killing and starvation of children in Gaza.”
The changing tune toward Israel’s Gaza strategy among high-profile rank-and-file Republicans has threatened to turn a dependable policy safe haven into something more treacherous for Republican leaders, who are already navigating internal unrest over government spending and other must-pass bills in the Capitol.
And the shift may become more pronounced going forward. A survey conducted in March by the Pew Research Center found Republican support for Israel has eroded in recent years, particularly among young GOP voters. The poll found that just 48 percent of Republicans under the age of 50 have a positive view of Israel, down from 63 percent in 2022.
The tensions were exacerbated this week by Rep. Randy Fine, a Florida Republican in his first year on Capitol Hill, who promoted the notion that Israel and its Western allies should allow Palestinians in Gaza to “starve away” until Hamas releases the remaining hostages the terrorist group took during its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
“(This is all a lie anyway,” he added on X. “It amazes me that the media continues to regurgitate Muslim terror propaganda).”
The remarks drew an immediate rebuke from Greene, who condemned Fine for cheering on the starvation of civilians. In the process, she became the first Republican in Congress to characterize Israel’s policy toward Gaza as a “genocide.”
“It the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct 7th in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza,” Greene posted on X. “But a Jewish U.S. Representative calling for the continued starvation of innocent people and children is disgraceful.
“His awful statement will actually cause more antisemitism.”
Earlier in the month, Greene had taken her criticisms a long step further, proposing legislation to slash U.S. military aid to Israel, much as she has sought to cut military help to Ukraine. The proposal failed in a lopsided vote of 6-422; Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) was the only other Republican to support the measure.
But since then, more Trump loyalists have stepped up their criticisms of the situation in Gaza, creating additional challenges for GOP leaders hoping to appease the various camps within a fractious conference.
Trump has provided the GOP critics with the space to air their gripes.
While the president has suggested Gaza should be turned into a luxury resort playground — a proposal blasted by Democrats — he’s also pushed back at times against Netanyahu and his handling of the war. In May, Trump snubbed the Israeli leader, staging a high-profile swing through the Middle East without visiting Israel. He’s also raised eyebrows for pursuing nuclear talks with Iran, and hostage negotiations with Hamas, without Netanyahu’s participation.
Most recently, Trump broke with Netanyahu — who has denied reports of starving children in Gaza — by saying the hunger crisis is real.
“Some of those kids are — that’s real starvation stuff,” Trump said Monday during a visit to one of his golf resorts in Scotland.
Trump’s position was notable for clearly acknowledging the distinction between the Hamas militants who orchestrated the Oct. 7 attacks and the Palestinian civilians in Gaza who have been frequent victims of Israel’s military response. That distinction has sometimes gone ignored in the Capitol, where some Republicans have sought to lump the two groups together.
Responding to the Hamas attacks, Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), now the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, suggested there are no “innocent Palestinian civilians,” comparing the concept to “innocent Nazi civilians.”
And Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) offered legislation barring Palestinians from entering the United States.
Such moves have been widely condemned by Democrats in the Capitol, where even some of Israel’s staunchest allies are accusing Netanyahu and his administration of exacerbating the hunger crisis.
Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) has been clear in blaming Hamas for starting the war, and prolonging it with its failure to release the remaining hostages. But Israel, he said, hasn’t done enough to mitigate the civilian toll.
“The world must not turn a blind eye to the fact that children are starving because of this war,” Schneider said in a statement. “It is Israel’s responsibility, and within its capacity, to address and resolve the situation.”
