Conservatism will collapse without support for Israel.
To be pro-Israel is to affirm belief in moral clarity, civilizational inheritance, and national sovereignty — all core components of what makes the West great.
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This is a guest essay by Dan Burmawi, a former Muslim from Jordan who left Islam and the Middle East. He now lives in the United States.
You can also listen to the podcast version of this essay on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, YouTube, and Spotify.
I am not an American, at least not yet, and I’ve only been living in the U.S. for two years.
Still, it’s clear to me that in today’s America, defending Israel is inextricably bound to defending the core values that underpin the conservative movement itself: religious liberty, individual responsibility, family integrity, and reverence for Western civilization.
When support for Israel falters, that foundation begins to crack. Let me explain.
The correlation between political conservatism and support for Israel is statistical and consistent. According to a Gallup poll released in March 2025, 75 percent of Republicans sympathize more with Israelis in the Middle East conflict, while just 21 percent of Democrats do.
In contrast, 59 percent of Democrats express greater sympathy for Palestinians, the highest level ever recorded. This is not a split; it is a chasm. The favorability divide is just as stark. As of April 2025, Pew Research Center data shows that 69 percent of Democrats now hold an unfavorable view of Israel, up from 53 percent in 2022.
Among Republicans, only 37 percent view Israel unfavorably, while a majority still view it favorably. Among white evangelical Protestants, who represent the backbone of the conservative grassroots, 72 percent view Israel favorably. In sharp contrast, among the religiously unaffiliated, an overwhelmingly progressive demographic, 69 percent view Israel negatively. These aren’t mere policy preferences; they are identity markers.
Support for Israel, then, is an ideological identifier as clear and decisive as views on, for example, the role of government. It functions as a political signal, a proxy for where one stands on a host of related issues. To support Israel is to affirm belief in moral clarity, civilizational inheritance, and national sovereignty. To oppose Israel is to increasingly align with a worldview that sees Western institutions as oppressive, tradition as a tool of oppression, and religious conviction as a threat.
In American politics, there is what might be called the “bundled-values effect.” Voters do not engage politics issue by issue; they choose worldviews and vote for people, platforms, and parties that reflect a coherent moral and cultural framework. In this context, support for Israel has become a bundled value, an issue that travels with others and helps define ideological identity.
“Pro-Israel” candidates are rarely just pro-Israel. They are also pro-family values, pro-religious liberty, and pro-limited government. They defend the Constitution, they see America (and the West) as a real value-add to the world, and they speak the language of responsibility rather than grievance. In other words, they speak the language of conservatism.
Opposition to Israel, by contrast, increasingly travels with opposition to those very values. The same political movements that denounce Israel as a colonial power also denounce the American Founding as systemically oppressive. Many of the same voices that accuse Israel of “apartheid” also demand the deconstruction of the nuclear family and the suppression of religious speech in the public square. The same activists who chant “From the River to the Sea!” are marching to dismantle the Judeo-Christian moral order that made America possible.
Those attacking Israel in the American context are not merely concerned about the policies of a foreign government; they are engaged in a much broader campaign: the delegitimization of Western civilization itself. Israel is not isolated in their moral calculus; it is emblematic. It represents tradition, rootedness, strength, religious identity, and the West’s refusal to dissolve itself into guilt and self-loathing.
That is why they hate it. And that is why they target it.
“Progressive” strategists understand something many conservatives do not: If you can fracture the relationship between Israel and America, you can destabilize the very coalition that has held back the “progressive” agenda for decades. They don’t have to convince conservative voters to become Marxists; they only need to alienate them from the one issue that aligns them instinctively with pro-liberty and pro-order candidates.
Break that link, and the rest unravels. No less, it is working. Among younger evangelicals, support for Israel has dropped dramatically in recent years. In 2018, 75 percent of evangelical adults under 30 supported Israel. By 2021, that number had fallen below 35 percent. This is the result of relentless academic indoctrination, media demonization, and a social climate that portrays Israel as a pariah and any defense of it as complicity in oppression.
The goal is to shift the vote — because when voters shift away from Israel, they also drift toward candidates and parties that oppose the very foundations of conservative policy: religious freedom, parental rights, and moral education. A conservative disillusioned with Israel today may be persuaded to vote for a non-interventionist Democrat tomorrow, only to find themselves supporting a platform that includes the erosion of gender distinctions and hostility to religion. This is not just a loss for Israel; it is a loss for America and the greater West.
The ideological coalition that attacks Israel does not stop at the borders of the Middle East. Its critique extends to the very core of American society. Israel and America are, in their view, twin evils: settler-colonial powers, capitalist oppressors, and religious zealots. They chant “Free Palestine!” with one breath and “Abolish ICE1” with the next. They scream about checkpoints in the West Bank and riot over policing in Atlanta. They equate Gaza with Ferguson, the IDF with the New York Police Department, Zionism with whiteness, and Jewish survival with white supremacy.
The attack on Israel is, therefore, a disguised attack on America’s moral legitimacy. It is not about borders; it is about narratives. To delegitimize Israel is to prepare the ground for delegitimizing the Constitution, America’s founders, the church, and everything conservatives seek to preserve.
And the conservative movement cannot afford to be naïve about this. Supporting Israel is not optional. It is not symbolic. It is essential to the preservation of a coalition that can withstand the ideological onslaught of the modern Left.
For American voters, the choice is now clear. To support Israel is to vote for candidates who believe in the moral legitimacy of the West. It is to side with those who defend religious liberty, parental rights, and free speech. Voting for pro-Israel candidates is not about taking a side in a foreign conflict; it is about taking a side in a domestic war for America’s soul.
For policymakers, the message is just as urgent. Israel policy is not a line item; it is a foundation stone. Support for Israel must be linked with a broader conservative legislative agenda: school choice, tax reform, constitutional originalism, defense of conscience rights, and the curtailment of bureaucratic overreach.
Israel can no longer be treated as an isolated talking point in foreign policy platforms; it must be understood and framed as a civilizational ally in the defense of ordered liberty. Abandoning Israel is not just a betrayal of an ally; it is a surrender to the logic of the modern Left. And that surrender will not stop at the borders of Judea and Samaria; it will march straight into the homes, schools, places of worship, and courts of America.
To rebuild and protect the conservative coalition, leaders must reclaim the moral narrative around Israel. They must speak clearly and unapologetically: Israel is not the problem. Israel is the front line. It is a bulwark against Islamic jihad, totalitarianism, and the “progressive” alliance that excuses terrorism while criminalizing Biblical morality.
Religious leaders must teach the covenantal meaning of Israel. Candidates must link Israel support to every major cultural and political fight in America. Commentators must expose the rhetorical tricks used to smear Zionism, while laundering antisemitism and rebranding Islamic jihad. And voters must be reminded: This is not a marginal issue, but a defining one. If conservatives fail to defend Israel, they will soon find they cannot defend themselves.
The modern Left understands this. They know that breaking the link between Israel and conservatism is a precondition for capturing the electorate. They know that if they can portray Israel as morally illegitimate, they will win those who defend family values, believe in law and order, and dismantle the very idea of Western identity.
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I've written before and again I have to say, I find Mr Burmawi impressive. His integrity as a Christian and ex-Muslim to support the presence of Torah (not only the vague term Judaism) in This World is uncommon. Not to minimize other strong and courageous people. Mr Burmawi demonstrates a deep understanding of Torah substance and tradition. He had to work hard to reach his level of understanding and to be aware of the forces standing in the way of that hard work and the courage speak.
Never has so much been set with so few words. thank you.