It’s no secret that American society and its political parties are in the midst of a period of profound instability. The presidential primaries revealed once again the vast ideological divide separating conservatives and liberals. They also revealed the yawning gap between primary voters in both parties and the parties’ leadership.
On issue after issue, from taxes to bathrooms to what it means to be an American, the cleavages in American society continue to expand.
Yet, to date, through the storm, one certainty has remained. American support for Israel has stood the test of the times.
As a Pew survey published two weeks ago showed, yet again, the majority support that Israel enjoys from the American people continues to hold strong. The most significant pillar of that support is the 75 percent of Republicans who strongly back Israel.
On the Democratic side, the situation is significantly less reassuring, but acceptable in light of the near-consensus support Israel enjoys from Republicans.
Democrats support Israel 43 to 29 percent.
But while on the surface everything seems fine, just below it, we discover that all is not well on the Republican front. The instability rocking American society has not left Republican support for Israel unscathed.
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