The People vs. Israel

Also, the shekel hits a 30-year high, and Bibi calls the Lebanese president.

People walking next to a large American flag at the Tsahal Square in Jerusalem, October 12, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

It’s Thursday, April 16, and last night, the U.S. Senate voted on a pair of resolutions aimed at blocking $447 million in arms and bulldozer sales to Israel. While the measures ultimately failed, the final tally demonstrated a seismic political shift. The Democratic Party voted overwhelmingly in favor, with 40 of 47 Senate Democrats backing the embargoes. In the end, the sales were only saved by unified Republican opposition.

The resolutions were proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders. While similar measures brought by Sanders were rejected out of hand in 2024 and 2025, the political landscape has clearly shifted. The number of Democrats voting alongside the Vermont independent has more than doubled in less than two years.

Contrary to the media’s lamentations, Israel and the United States did not lose the war to Iran. Who decided that the temporary survival of a regime constitutes a victory?

The Middle East is full of despotic Muslim dictatorships that have never interested the United States, and rightfully so. America is the world’s policeman, not its educator. If a leader wishes to destroy the lives of their citizens, the U.S. military will not be sent to protect them. The strongest army in the world and the strongest air force in the region destroyed $200 billion worth of Iranian military assets because the country posed an existential threat.

Yet, on a different front, Israel suffered a worrying loss: the war for American public opinion. The scope of this shift is historic. For the first time since polling on the issue began, the number of Americans holding an unfavorable view of Israel has eclipsed those with a favorable one, tipping the scales at 48 percent to 46 percent.

The percentage of Israel’s supporters dropped to a low not seen since 1989, and the percentage of detractors hit an all-time high.

If there is a mitigating circumstance, it is that Israel’s global standing historically deteriorates during prolonged military conflicts. We saw this during the First Intifada with its knives and stones, the Second Intifada with its exploding buses, and the Second Lebanon War. The current decline is deeper primarily because the war is longer. However, there is reason to expect a recovery once the regional fighting concludes—hopefully soon, and with a decisive victory. Furthermore, Israel’s national standing is still faring slightly better than that of its leader: Netanyahu currently sits at minus 23 percent, compared to a positive 9 percent just two years ago.

But that’s not all. According to a CNN poll, the majority of Republicans under the age of 50 now view Israel negatively: minus 16 percent, compared to plus 28 percent just four years ago.

The primary negative development is the rise in support for the Palestinians. Thirty-seven percent of Americans view them favorably, a record high since measurements began in 2000. This indicates a profound shift—not necessarily localized anger toward Israel, but authentic support for its enemies. Netanyahu believes that those in America who have a problem with Israel have a problem with America itself. Meaning, it is not an issue of public diplomacy (hasbara) but a matter of the progressive worldview.

True, but incomplete. The sirens sounding from within the Republican Party, especially from its younger wing, are not drills—they are genuine alarms.

This is an excerpt from my weekly column in Israel Hayom

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An electronic board displaying market data at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in Tel Aviv, March 2, 2026. (Yehoshua Yosef/Flash90)

The shekel-U.S. dollar exchange rate has fallen below 3 NIS/USD for the first time in 30 years. It’s been so long that around the last time the shekel was this strong, Bibi was prime minister, Aryeh Deri was the head of Shas, and the IDF was in southern Lebanon.

In all seriousness, the strength of the shekel has its pros and cons. Let’s start with the downsides.

For Israeli exporters, a strong shekel acts as a direct tax on competitiveness. Because companies earning foreign currency must convert it to pay local shekel expenses, a massive chunk of their profit margin simply evaporates in the exchange rate. This is also true on the macro scale: Israel’s sovereign wealth fund generated an impressive 18.4 percent profit in U.S. dollars in 2025. However, because the dollar weakened against the shekel, that return shrank to just 3.8 percent in shekel terms, wiping out NIS 1.1 billion. Returns on other foreign investments face similar contractions.

But there are significant upsides.

Because global commodities like oil and most consumer goods are priced in foreign currencies, a robust shekel is effectively a subsidy for the domestic economy. It makes two of Israelis’ favorite pastimes—international travel and online shopping from the U.S.—significantly more accessible. It also lowers the cost of imported goods, ranging from raw industrial materials to household items. That’s precisely how, despite global shocks, Israel’s annual inflation rate dropped to 1.9 percent in March from 2.0 percent in February.

Above all, the strengthening shekel serves as a powerful vote of confidence in the Israeli economy. This surge in investment stems directly from a perceived reduction in the security threat posed by Iran. Even if the regime in Tehran has not entirely collapsed, its diminished capacity paves the way for unprecedented economic growth in Israel and increased cooperation throughout the region. It is worth remembering that Israel’s economic miracle has been achieved with one hand tied behind its back by constant security threats—removing that burden reveals the economy’s true potential.

Before the war began, Prof. Leo Leiderman, former head of the research division at the Bank of Israel, predicted that the fall of the regime in Iran could bring the shekel “to a level of about 2 NIS/USD.” It seems investments of historic proportions are just a regime change away.

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Smoke and fire rise from southern Lebanon during an Israeli military operation yesterday. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

Last night, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that Prime Minister Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun are set to speak today for the first time in “like 34 years.” Just as Trump posted this statement, Israel’s security Cabinet convened, reportedly to discuss a weeklong ceasefire in Lebanon.

“Our assessment is that within a few days, we will have no choice but to fully cease fire in Lebanon,” a senior Israeli political source told Channel 12. While the Cabinet meeting concluded without a final decision, a near-term ceasefire appears highly probable.

Residents of Israel’s north might rightly ask why they had to endure another week in bomb shelters if Israel was ultimately going to pause its campaign against Hezbollah regardless. Not to mention, Israel could have avoided the international hysteria over the country’s supposed warmongering and hatred of peace.

The answer lies in the profound difference between this potential ceasefire and the U.S.-brokered proposal from a week ago. One would have been a gift to Iran; the other is a gift to Lebanon.

Over the past week, Israel not only dealt a significant blow through Operation Eternal Darkness, but more importantly, it initiated serious bilateral negotiations with Beirut. While direct talks are not a magic cure for the Hezbollah problem, they establish a critical precedent: any significant developments in Lebanon must be routed through Beirut, not dictated by Tehran.

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English Editor: Ari Tatarka

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