Tucker Carlson: Drop Israel

June 14, 2025 Hunter Wallace Conservatism, Foreign Policy, Geopolitics, Iran, Israel, Paleocons, Politics, Populists, World 0

It has been almost 48 hours.

In light of experience, I have adopted a wait and see approach to Israel’s war with Iran. Israel has attacked Iran several times over the past few months and previous strikes haven’t boiled over into World War III. I have serious doubts about Iran’s ability to defend itself or respond to Israel’s aggression. I also doubt we will see anything resembling an American ground invasion of Iraq, a Libya style aerial bombardment campaign or an “anti-terrorism” intervention and occupation like in Syria.

Bibi Netanyahu went to Washington in April and pleaded with Trump to support and participate in the attack. Trump chose not to do so and sent Steve Witkoff to negotiate with Iran. Regardless of whether or not these negotiations were in bad faith, the fact remains that the United States did not participate in the attack and we are currently not at war with Iran. This is due to the massive political headwinds that confront the Trump administration. There is no public support for going to war with Iran.

The strikes are already polling badly.

CNN:

“A Quinnipiac University poll released this week – ahead of Israel’s strikes – epitomized the shifting landscape.

Polls for decades have asked Americans to choose whether they sympathize more with Israelis or Palestinians, and Israel is almost always the runaway favorite. But this one showed Americans sided with the Israelis by a historically narrow margin: 37% to 32%. …

To wit:

A March poll from the Pew Research Center showed 53% of Americans – a majority – had an unfavorable opinion of Israel. That was up from 42% in 2022, before the current war in Gaza. The same poll showed Americans said by more than a 20-point margin that they lacked confidence in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A March poll from Marquette University Law School showed Americans evenly split on Israel: 43% favorable to 43% unfavorable.

And a February Reuters/Ipsos poll showed about 4 in 10 Americans leaned toward the idea that Israel’s problems are “none of our business.” …

The Quinnipiac poll showed the percentage of Republicans who sympathized more with the Israelis than Palestinians dropping from 86% in October 2023 to 64% today. (Almost all of the shift was to a neutral position, rather than to the Palestinians.)

And the Pew poll showed unfavorable views of Israel among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents rising from 27% in 2022 to 37% in March. Most remarkably, right-leaning voters under the age of 50 were about evenly split in their views of Israel …”

Support for Israel *among Republican voters* has dropped by 20 points since October 7th. This reflects the overall trend of declining support for Israel across the political spectrum.

FOX News:

“According to the poll, which was first shared with Fox News on Friday, 45% of those questioned said they would support Israel conducting targeted airstrikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities if diplomatic efforts between the U.S. and Iran fail.

Thirty-seven percent said they opposed Israeli airstrikes, with 18% unsure. …

Six in 10 Republicans said they support the airstrikes, but that backing dropped to 35% among independents and 32% among Democrats.

Twenty-seven percent of Republicans opposed the Israeli airstrikes, with a third of independents and just over half of Democrats opposed. …”

Democrats and Independents are outright hostile to Israel.

Republicans are split. It is Trump’s MAGA base that is opposed to the strikes.

Keep in mind that these polls only reflect attitudes toward Israel and support for Israel striking Iranian nuclear facilities. Going to war with Iran is a separate question and polls far more poorly. Trump isn’t capable of selling that idea *to his own base* much less to the rest of the country.

MAGA is consolidating around the idea that Israel started this war without our support and should own it and we should stay out of it. Tucker Carlson has gone so far to embrace the position that we should drop Israel altogether. Netanyahu’s actions and the GOP Congress clapping like seals is only reinforcing the stereotype that Israel is an albatross that tries to manipulate our government into fighting its wars in the Middle East. This is accelerating the collapse in support for Israel on the Right.

Trump is frozen like a deer in headlights.

He is caught between his own political base, his donors, Netanyahu and the Republican Congress. He can’t sell a war with Iran that even Charlie Kirk isn’t going to support.

The Hill:

“President Trump’s handling of escalating tensions in the Middle East is casting a spotlight on divisions among the president’s supporters about whether the U.S. should have any involvement in a brewing conflict.

Trump has had voices in his ear advocating for differing approaches to Iran as his administration sought to broker an agreement limiting Tehran’s nuclear program. 

Figures like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson have argued voters backed Trump because he would not involve the nation in foreign conflicts.

Carlson, in his morning newsletter Friday, said Trump is “complicit” in Israel’s attack on Iran and warned the escalating conflict between the two nations could lead the U.S. into war.

“What happens next will define Donald Trump’s presidency,” Carlson wrote. …”

So, now we wait to see how the chips fall.

An unpredictable chain of events has been unleashed here. It is not as simple as we are “at war with Iran.” Nothing has happened yet except shooting down missiles and drones which happened under Biden. We would have plunged in head first ten years ago, but Israel doesn’t have that kind of pull anymore.

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