Welcome to Wednesday’s Washington Secrets. We’ve made it a long one to fill up the emptiness of a day without a World Cup match. Which may be a good thing if you are the Belgian prime minister. … Plus, we have exclusive polling that shows just how bad things are getting for Benjamin Netanyahu.Republican support for Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has collapsed during the past month, as President Donald Trump sours on his ally, a ceasefire with Iran unravels, and Israel continues to bomb Lebanon.In May, some 66% of Republicans said they had a positive view of Netanyahu.
A month later, it had fallen to 47%, according to a J.L. Partners poll shared exclusively with Secrets.The extraordinary drop in support suggests that Republicans are taking their cue from Trump, who has grown increasingly, and often very publicly, frustrated with his regional ally.“Why are you blowing up buildings?” Trump reportedly asked Netanyahu in a phone call about Lebanon last month, according to the Wall Street Journal, for example. “Stop blowing up buildings.”On Wednesday, Trump declared the troubled truce with Iran to be over, bringing more uncertainty to the region.The numbers spell real political trouble for Netanyahu. He faces elections at home later this year and could see his support from Washington eroded further in November’s midterm elections.To test public views, J.L. Partners polled 1,059 registered voters.Among all voters, the number who had a negative view of Netanyahu rose from 38% to 40%.But most damaging for the Israeli prime minister as he tries to manage his most important geostrategic relationship is the collapse in Republican support.During the time that the U.S. was negotiating a ceasefire with Iran, the Islamabad memorandum of understanding, Netanyahu’s net favorability with Republican voters, the difference between the number with a favorable opinion and those with a negative opinion, halved from +48 to +24.The data suggest that GOP supporters are taking their cue from Trump and his top officials.One Trump aide said the president had unleashed an expletive-filled bombardment on Netanyahu at the start of last month, excoriating for escalating attacks on Lebanon while talks were aimed at finding peace with Iran.“You’re f***ing crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me,” is how the aide characterized their call. “I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.” Vice President JD Vance also delivered a rebuke to Israel from the White House briefing room amid reports that Netanyahu was furious with the Iran deal.“If I was in the Cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,” he said.Meanwhile, MAGA defectors such as Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson have been unstinting in their condemnation of Washington’s support for Israel. They blame Netanyahu for dragging Trump into a war that Americans didn’t vote for.No wonder Netanyahu has been doing the rounds of American TV studios to make nice.He played down divisions with Trump in a Tuesday interview with CNN.“He’s the president of the United States. He does what is good for the United States,” he said. “I’m the prime minister of Israel, I do what is what is important for Israel, and most of the time, these things are identical.”He made the same point to Fox News at the weekend, sprinkling a little sugar on top.“Donald Trump is a great, the greatest friend we’ve ever had in the White House, and I stand by that completely,” Netanyahu said.Whether Americans, and even American Jews, are such great friends is another matter.A poll published Tuesday revealed that New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, an outspoken critic of Israel, is viewed more favorably by American Jews than Netanyahu.The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey found that 44% of American Jews hold a favorable opinion of Mamdani, compared to 39% who have an unfavorable view.In contrast, Netanyahu’s numbers are underwater. Just 32% of respondents said they have a favorable opinion of the longtime Israeli prime minister, while 59% said they have a negative view.Don’t mention the World Cup!
