Israel’s Treatment of Christians Enters US Political Debate
Sid Shniad
From Bethlehem to Florida: Israel’s Treatment of Christians Enters US Political Debate
The political language surrounding Israel in the United States is undergoing a transformation that would have been nearly impossible to imagine just a few years ago. (Photos: video grab. Design: Palestine Chronicle)By Romana Rubeo 
The political language surrounding Israel in the United States is undergoing a transformation that would have been nearly impossible to imagine just a few years ago.
‘Not Welcome in Florida’
In a video widely circulated on social media on Tuesday, Republican Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback is seen addressing a large crowd during a campaign event.
“The way they treat Christians in Israel is disgraceful. If Christians are not welcome in Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in Florida,” Fishback says.
His remarks are met with loud applause. Moments later, he escalates further: “If you want to call Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal, be my guest.” The crowd cheers again.
Not long ago, such language would have likely ended a political career in the United States, particularly within Republican circles, where support for Israel has traditionally been unwavering.
Today, however, the reaction suggests something fundamentally different. This shift is neither isolated nor accidental.
Cracks in the Political Consensus
Public opinion data increasingly reflects a changing landscape. Surveys conducted over the past two years—including Gallup and Pew Research Center findings—indicate a steady decline in unconditional support for Israel, particularly among younger Americans.
While this trend has been most visible among Democrats, it is no longer confined to one side of the political spectrum.
Among Republicans, support for Israel has declined by “10 points since 2024”. Younger conservatives, libertarian-leaning voters, and segments of the populist right are increasingly questioning US foreign policy commitments, including military and diplomatic backing for Israel.
In this context, Fishback’s remarks are not an anomaly. They are a signal. The fact that calling an Israeli prime minister a “war criminal” can now generate applause at a Republican campaign event reflects a widening space for dissent, one that did not previously exist in mainstream US politics.
The Fracturing of Christian Support
Equally significant is the constituency Fishback chose to address: American Christians.
For decades, Israel has relied heavily on support from Christian communities in the United States. This alliance has been rooted in a combination of political alignment and controversial theological interpretations—particularly forms of Christian Zionism that view the establishment of Israel as part of a biblical prophecy.
Yet even within this traditionally solid base, signs of fracture are emerging.
Fishback’s criticism was framed explicitly in terms of Israel’s treatment of Christians, and the applause that followed suggests that this issue resonates with his audience.
A Community Under Pressure
Palestine’s Christian community, the most ancient in the world, is facing mounting pressure under Israeli occupation and policies.
Over the past decades, the Christian population in historic Palestine has declined sharply—even in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. According to Reuters, “in the last year of British rule over the region in 1947, some 85% of Bethlehem’s population were Christian. As of a 2017 census, the overall population of Bethlehem was 215,514 with only 23,000 Christians among them. That puts the percentage of Christians in Bethlehem in 2017 at around 10%.”
While emigration is often cited as a factor, the conditions driving it are deeply political: restrictions on movement, land confiscations, economic strangulation, and persistent insecurity.
In recent years, attacks against Christian institutions and individuals have also intensified.
Documented incidents include illegal Israeli Jewish settlers spitting on clergy in Jerusalem—acts captured on video and widely reported. Churches and cemeteries have been vandalized, including attacks on the Protestant Mount Zion Cemetery. Christian properties have been targeted in disputes over land ownership, particularly in Jerusalem’s Old City.
During Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, churches were not spared. The Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius—one of the oldest churches in the world—was struck in an Israeli air attack in October 2023, killing civilians who had sought shelter inside.
Christian families in Gaza, like their Muslim neighbors, have endured siege conditions, displacement, and severe shortages of food, water, and medical supplies.
Additionally, in an unprecedented move in recorded history, Pierbattista Pizzaballa was barred from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday, underscoring the severity of restrictions on Christian worship in Jerusalem.
Voices from the Ground
Palestinian Christian leaders have repeatedly spoken out about these conditions.
Father Manuel Musallam, a prominent priest from Gaza, has long warned that the survival of Christianity in the Holy Land is at risk. He has described the situation facing Palestinian Christians as one of systematic marginalization and displacement.
Similarly, Archbishop Atallah Hanna of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem has consistently condemned Israeli policies, emphasizing that Palestinian Christians are an integral part of the Palestinian people and share in their collective struggle.
Their voices, once largely ignored in Western political discourse, are now reaching broader audiences—particularly through social media and independent journalism.
For many American Christians, the dissonance is becoming harder to ignore. The traditional pro-Israel narrative sits uneasily alongside images of clergy being harassed, churches attacked, and ancient communities dwindling under occupation.
Beyond Partisan Lines
What makes this shift particularly significant is that it cuts across traditional partisan boundaries.
Criticism of Israel is no longer confined to progressive circles or student movements. It is appearing in Republican campaign speeches, conservative media spaces, and faith-based discussions.
This does not mean that US policy will change overnight. Institutional support for Israel remains deeply entrenched in Washington’s political elites, backed by decades of strategic alignment and lobbying power.
However, the political culture surrounding that support is evolving. And once the boundaries of acceptable discourse begin to shift, they rarely return to their previous limits.