2025 saw the most significant political shift toward Palestinian rights in US history
Pro-Palestine protesters march in Washington, DC to call for a ceasefire and end the genocide in Gaza in January 2024
Mitchell Plitnick writes in Mondoweiss on 31 December 2025:
2025 started with a Gaza ceasefire that was never meant to be sustained and is ending with one that was never actually instituted. The year also saw a steady intensification of the occupation on the West Bank, and an unprecedentedly broad wave of Israeli warfare all across the Middle East.
In the United States, the transition from the passionate and self-defeating support for Israel of Joe Biden to the transactional but nonetheless still solid support for Israel of Donald Trump had negligible effect on the superpower policy that is one of the greatest obstacles to the realization of inalienable Palestinian rights.
But there is real hope we might take this year from a significant movement in the American discourse on Palestine and Israel and that this shift is finally starting to be reflected in American politics, albeit in ways far too small to match the needs of the moment.
Most notably, 2025 saw American public opinion continue its shift away from Israel.
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Torres’ implication that Israel was not allowing enough food into Gaza (at that point, they were barely allowing any, and Gaza was in a state of famine) was shocking for him. But more importantly it reflected the growing distaste for Israel among Democrats.
Nothing convinces Democrats more than polls, and many polls were showing that their constituents were growing increasingly fed up with Israel.
When Israel began its genocide in Gaza after the attack of October 7, 2023, Americans were split on Israel’s response. A Gallup Poll showed 50% of Americans approved of Israel’s actions, with 45% opposed. That number quickly changed to disapproval, but in 2025, it veered sharply, and by mid-July, 60% of Americans disapproved of Israel’s actions and only 32% approved.
The numbers were even starker for Democrats. While 36% approved of Israel’s initial response, only 8% did by July 2025.
But the shift isn’t only apparent among Democrats. While Republicans are still much more supportive of Israel than Democrats, that support is beginning to ebb, especially among younger Republicans.