Is the U.S.-Israel Special Relationship Over?

U.S. public opinion is undergoing a dramatic shift. Polls show that Americans view Palestinians more sympathetically than they do Israelis, something that has never happened before. Less than half of Americans believe supporting Israel is in their national interest. Prominent U.S. lawmakers are now openly criticizing the country’s bipartisan policies toward Israel. In a new essay in Foreign Policy’s Summer print issue, Joshua Leifer argues that the two countries’ bilateral cooperation in the Iran war may represent the alliance’s zenith—and a true distancing may follow. So, is the U.S.-Israel special relationship over? If so, what will that mean for Israel and its role in the Middle East? Leifer, a columnist for Haaretz, joined FP Live’s Ravi Agrawal to explore trends in the U.S.-Israeli partnership and how that could disrupt politics in both countries. Leifer’s essay is just one of 10 “endings” in the Summer issue, which examines how international law, the trans-Atlantic relationship, neoliberalism, and morality itself have been upended in the last decade. Watch the interview at ForeignPolicy.com: https://foreignpolicy.com/live/leifer... Read Leifer’s essay here: https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/06/15/... Read FP’s new print magazine here: https://foreignpolicy.com/projects/th... 0:00 Intro 5:22 The ‘special’ relationship 8:00 U.S. public sentiment 13:50 Is this a generational shift? 15:50 Israeli sentiment 20:00 History of U.S.-Israel relations 23:55 The Israel lobby 26:48 The fissure in 2015 30:40 Israel’s upcoming election 33:10 Antisemitism 38:05 The changing relationship 39:39 Will Israel turn to other powers? On the go? Listen to FP Live as a podcast at https://link.chtbl.com/foreignpolicyl... or wherever you get your podcasts. FP Live is Foreign Policy's forum for live journalism that brings leading foreign-policy experts and thinkers together to analyze the world's biggest events. Visit http://foreignpolicy.com/live for the full conversation and more live journalism from Foreign Policy. Subscribe to Foreign Policy's Youtube Channel:    / @foreign-policy   Visit http://foreignpolicy.com/ to read the latest global news and analysis from FP. Follow Foreign Policy: X -   / foreignpolicy   Instagram -   / foreignpolicymag   Facebook -   / foreign.policy.magazine   LinkedIn -   / foreign-policy-magazine   TikTok -   / foreignpolicymagazine