LOFTUS: Young Democrats Aren’t The Only Ones Who Have Turned Against Israel

Comedian Theo Von isn’t exactly obsessed with the Middle East.

He probably has never traveled to the region or held any strong views about its countries and conflicts, at least not before Oct. 8, 2023. Nor is he an expert on the relations between Israel and Palestine, and frankly, neither am I. (Subscribe to MR. RIGHT, a weekly newsletter about modern masculinity)

And yet on an episode of his podcast Tuesday, Von offered a take on Israel that, perhaps a decade ago, would have been considered ‘hot’ but now feels increasingly commonplace, particularly among younger, more online generations.

“It feels like we are just owned by Israel … and we just never knew it,” he told his guest, Mark Normand.

Theo Von: “It feels like we are just owned by Israel… and we just never knew it.”

Follow: @AFpost
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— AF Post (@AFpost) April 10, 2025

Von is not alone. The number of Americans beginning to question pro-Israel narratives fed to them through corporate media and elected officials who have taken money from AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, is growing.

According to a Pew Research report published in April, 53% percent of Americans now hold a somewhat or very unfavorable view of Israel, marking an 11-point increase since March of 2022. The number of U.S. adults who hold a very unfavorable view of Israel just about doubled in this time period, jumping from 10% in 2022 to 19% in 2025.

Among Americans between the ages of 18-49 who are Republican or lean Republican, the shift is even more remarkable. In 2022, only 35% of this group held negative views of Israel. In 2025, that number is now 50%.

TOPSHOT – Protestors wave Palestinian flags on the West Lawn of Columbia University on April 29, 2024 in New York. Student demonstrators at Columbia University, the epicenter of pro-Palestinian protests that have erupted at US colleges, said Monday they would not budge until the school met their demands, defying an ultimatum to disperse or face suspension. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

On the other hand, only 23% of Republicans over the age of 50 view Israel negatively. A vast majority of them also have some or a lot of confidence in Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “do the right thing regarding world affairs,” while 45% of younger Republicans or GOP-aligned adults have not too much or none at all.

So why the stark — and expanding — gap between two generations of conservatives?

Perhaps the biggest reason is social media.

Before the advent of Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, podcasts, livestreams, etc., stories on Israel and Gaza were filtered top-down, through corporate media, politicians, and lobbying groups. The United States is allies with Israel, and much in the way the Western media slants its coverage in favor of Ukraine, for example, so too with the Jewish state. In 2008, if you watched or read the news about Israel and Gaza, you might have received a simpler message in favor of Israel. Its government and military’s wrongdoings and war crimes may have been missed by journalists or outright concealed.

But nearly 20 years later, you now have a plethora of alternative news sources to pick through, which completely shatters any single narrative. You also have access to unfiltered videos and images straight from the war itself circulating on social media away from the purview of news organizations and pro-Israel lawmakers and lobbyists. Netanyahu may try to spin the catastrophic bombing of Gaza as necessary in his goal to “eradicate” Hamas, but he cannot control the videos of bloodied and maimed civilians, the before and after images of neighborhoods standing and razed, that flood platforms like X and TikTok.

And who consumes the most social media content while bypassing traditional news outlets? Zoomers, of course.

Painted signs stand at the Pro-Palestinian protest encampment at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, on May 1, 2024. The weeks of demonstrations, the most sweeping and prolonged unrest to rock US college campuses since the Vietnam war protests of the 1960s and 70s, have already led to several hundred arrests of students and other activists. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)

Not only are young Republicans finding new perspectives on the Israel-Gaza war online, but they have also broken with older generations ideologically, notably on foreign policy and America’s role in the world. Older Republicans may be skeptical of aid to Ukraine and see its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as a weasel leeching off the largesse of U.S. taxpayers. But they seem to stop short when it comes to Israel and Netanyahu.

Increasingly, however, young conservatives are hostile both to Ukraine and Israel. For many of them, America First policy should actually put America First, and that means no country, whether they claim to be acting in our best interests, should receive billions of dollars in aid. Especially if that country is using our aid and weapons to fund its regional war and kill countless civilians.

NEW: I’ve obtained new footage of the abduction of Tufts student Runeysa Ozturk which includes audio of her kidnappers. pic.twitter.com/gucwFxdnOi

— Daniel Boguslaw (@DRBoguslaw) March 26, 2025

Finally, the federal government’s recent targeting of pro-Palestinian activists has done far more harm than good to the pro-Israel cause.

In late March, six plainclothes ICE agents surrounded Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old Turkish national and PhD student at Tufts University, on a Boston street, arrested her, and whisked her away without prior warning. No charges have been filed by the government, but her immigration status has been terminated. Ozturk is now detained in a Louisiana facility as her lawyers attempt to secure her release.

Why was she essentially disappeared? In 2024, Ozturk co-wrote an op-ed in the student newspaper complaining about her school’s refusal to cave to the demands of pro-Palestine activists and divest from Israel. The government, however, claimed the innocuous article was tantamount to a crime, with Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin saying that authorities determined Ozturk had “engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans.”

The case of activist Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate long involved in pro-Palestine rallies and demonstrations, is strikingly similar. In mid-March, ICE agents arrested Khalil at his New York City apartment. The government accused him of being “pro-terrorist,” yet failed to provide concrete evidence or even levy allegations of criminal activity. The government is simply arguing that Khalil’s “beliefs, statements or associations” compromise U.S. foreign policy interests, as determined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. A Louisiana immigration judge is set to rule on his release Friday. (RELATED: LOFTUS: The Right Might Be Making A Costly Error By Targeting Left-Wing Activist)

Regardless of whether it was legally justified for authorities to nab Ozturk off the street and arrest Khalil at his apartment, what kind of impression will disappearing pro-Palestine activists give to Americans who may have no opinions at all on the Gaza War; who may not even care at all about Israel and Palestine, the IDF and Hamas?

Certainly, not a good one, and the more the federal government attempts to punish those with negative views of Israel — even if they are foreign nationals with student visas — the worse the optics will get. For every attempt to silence the opposition, the neutrals watching on the sideline will start to ask questions. Why it is that the most powerful government in the world is taking such extreme action against a single student over a single op-ed? Why are politicians raking in so much money from AIPAC? Why is criticism of the Israeli government treated as antisemitic hate speech? Why are we giving them so much aid to begin with?

A lot of young people are probably in Theo Von’s boat today. They’re starting to feel different about Israel, and they’re starting to ask questions — and for good reason.

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