Rahm Emanuel warns US-Israel ties are at a crossroads in Netanyahu rebuke

Washington,UPDATED: Jul 7, 2026 17:12 IST

Rahm Emanuel, a possible Democratic presidential contender and a longtime supporter of Israel, is set to sharply criticise Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a speech in Tel Aviv this week. In remarks obtained by The Associated Press, Emanuel will say Israel's relationship with the United States is "at a crossroads" and that it "cannot stand or survive as it has been".

Speaking at Tel Aviv University on Wednesday, Emanuel will argue that the relationship needs "significant changes and a new direction". His planned speech highlights a broader shift within the Democratic Party, where support for Israel has weakened during the war in Gaza.

According to a new survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, about 58 per cent of Democrats say the US is "too supportive" of Israel, up from 45 per cent in January 2024. Roughly half of Democrats believe Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, an allegation made by some human rights organisations and strongly denied by Israel and the US government.

Emanuel's proposals include sanctions on Israelis who attack Palestinian civilians and property, as well as on companies and banks that support settlements considered illegal by most of the international community. He also wants to end US subsidies to Israel's defence budget, saying the country "should be able to buy American arms under the same financial terms, the same restrictions, and the same requirements as every other trusted ally that abides by our laws".

He will also blame Netanyahu for pushing Israel towards a "dead end", helped by what he sees as poor decisions by US leaders. "For too long, American policy toward Israel operated under the assumption that the best thing Washington could do for Jerusalem was to blindly and silently stand behind your government, without conditions, without demands, and without consequences when we disagreed," Emanuel will say. "That has been our mistake. Unconditional support has produced a prime minister who has presumed that his strategic interests would incur no cost if he ignored America's concerns."

There is little precedent for an American with presidential ambitions travelling abroad, particularly to Israel, to deliver such a direct rebuke of its leadership. Emanuel's remarks could trigger a strong response from Netanyahu, who once called him a "self-hating Jew". Netanyahu is facing his own re-election battle in October and may seek to use any confrontation with Emanuel for political advantage.

For Democrats weighing how to address the fallout from the Gaza war and Netanyahu's perceived closeness to President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, Emanuel's speech marks an especially direct approach. The war has unsettled political alliances in both major US parties, with younger voters pushing American leaders to take a harder line. The issue has already affected some Democratic congressional primaries this year and could remain a fault line ahead of the party's 2028 presidential contest.

Emanuel is expected to say Netanyahu has done little to advance diplomatic efforts to end the war and that "support for Israel is plummeting around the world". "You've lost Europe," he will say. "Your scientists face exclusion from international research networks. Your artists and academics are shut out of exhibits and conferences."

While Netanyahu has maintained strong ties with Trump and Republicans, support for Israel among Democrats has declined in recent years. Emanuel's comments also echo recent criticism from Vice President JD Vance, who said from the White House briefing room that Trump was "the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time" as the US worked to secure a deal to end the war with Iran.

Even with his criticism, Emanuel will also acknowledge the impact of the 7 October 2023 attacks, when Hamas-led militants carried out air and ground strikes on Israel, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages. He will also refer to the failures of earlier rounds of peace talks with Palestinian leaders, but add: "But even while acknowledging that history, the path forward cannot be held hostage to a past defined exclusively by recriminations."

He will call the two-state solution "discredited" and instead propose a "23-state solution" involving Israel, the Palestinians and the 21 other members of the Arab League. "The 21 Arab nations that have exploited Palestinian rights as a slogan for decades now need to roll up their sleeves and stand up a governing authority capable of accepting the historic Jewish connection to this land," he will say. Overall, Emanuel's speech is set to combine criticism of Netanyahu, calls for changes in US policy and a wider argument that Israel's global and political standing is weakening.

With PTI Inputs

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