TEL AVIV, Israel — Rahm Emanuel, a longtime defender of Israel and potential Democratic presidential candidate, stood before a packed auditorium at Tel Aviv University on Wednesday and delivered a stinging warning: Israel’s own leadership has turned the country into a “territorial pariah,” leaving it dangerously isolated from the rest of the world.
The sharp condemnation from a centrist Democrat who has historically backed Israel signals just how dramatically the party’s relationship with the country has shifted over the three years since the war in Gaza began. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has worked to build close ties with President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, Israel’s standing among Democrats has fallen sharply.
A new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that roughly 58% of Democrats now believe the United States is “too supportive” of Israel — up from 45% in January 2024. About half of Democrats also believe Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians during the Gaza conflict, a claim Israel strongly rejects.
The poll also found that Jewish adults, who tend to lean Democratic, hold a slightly more favorable view of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani — a vocal critic of Israel — than they do of Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Speaking to students and supporters at an event hosted by the university’s Center for the Study of the United States, Emanuel delivered a blunt message. “You cannot fight indefinitely against a world that has stopped believing you have the right to fight,” he said. “You must instead find a new sustainable path to peace, security, and economic prosperity.”
Emanuel laid out a series of recommendations designed to pull Israel out of what he called its “strategic pariah status.” His proposals centered on rebuilding Israel’s diplomatic relationships with Arab nations and strengthening economic ties through the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor — positioning it as a counterweight to China’s global infrastructure program.
Among his specific proposals: ending U.S. subsidies to Israel’s defense budget, arguing that Israel should pay for American defense support the same way any other ally would. He also called for sanctions against Israelis who carry out attacks on Palestinian civilians and property, as well as against politicians who publicly support such violence. Emanuel said America’s tendency to look the other way at Israeli injustices had “engendered the worst of your domestic politics.”
The audience at the liberal-leaning Tel Aviv University responded warmly, applauding even as Emanuel criticized Israeli policies — including Netanyahu’s failure to plan for what would come after the fighting in Gaza. Emanuel told the crowd that “true friends tell each other the truth.”
Israeli media, meanwhile, were largely focused on the NATO conference in Turkey and a potential escalation with Iran, and gave little attention to Emanuel’s visit.
Rather than advocating for a traditional two-state solution, Emanuel proposed what he called a 23-state solution — involving 21 Arab nations — that would hold Palestinians responsible for working toward statehood while acknowledging the historic Jewish connection to the land. The three-part U.S. policy framework would draw on the Arab world’s desire for regional stability, Israel’s need for security, and Palestinian aspirations for sovereignty.
Emanuel arrived in Israel on Sunday and spent several days visiting various initiatives before his speech, including a joint program between hospitals in Tel Aviv and Nablus where Israeli and Palestinian doctors train side by side. He also met with President Isaac Herzog and paid a visit to Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust museum and memorial in Jerusalem.
He told The Associated Press earlier in the week that he is intentionally avoiding meetings with political leaders ahead of Israel’s elections this fall. Israel’s presidency is a symbolic, appointed position rather than an elected office.
Netanyahu’s office did not respond to requests for comment on the speech. The prime minister previously called Emanuel a “self-hating Jew” back in 2009, when Emanuel condemned Israel’s expansion of settlements while serving as President Barack Obama’s chief of staff. The backlash was intense enough that far-right activists were detained while protesting Emanuel’s son’s bar mitzvah in Jerusalem the following year, Emanuel recalled.
One of those detained by police at the time was Itamar Ben-Gvir, who now serves as Israel’s public security minister and has authority over the police. Emanuel noted the irony with dry humor, calling it emblematic of the direction Israel’s politics have taken over the past 15 years.
Emanuel, whose father was born in Jerusalem and fought in the 1948 war that led to Israel’s founding, also addressed the devastating Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, in which militants launched air and ground strikes on Israel, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has since killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, including those who died after a ceasefire went into effect, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry operates under the Hamas-led government but is staffed by medical professionals and keeps detailed records that United Nations agencies and independent experts generally consider reliable.
Before taking the stage, Emanuel told reporters that conversations with Israelis over the previous days had left him struck by the depth of their feeling that their own government had let them down. “This sense of post-Oct. 7 vulnerability, I had read about it, but you don’t feel the visceralness of this and the rawness of this until you sit across the table from people,” he said.
While no major Democratic figure has formally entered the 2028 presidential race, that is expected to change following the November midterms. Emanuel — who has also served as a congressman, Chicago mayor, and U.S. ambassador to Japan — has been among the most transparent about his interest in running, including conducting bike tours through early voting states like New Hampshire.
Though he said he has not yet made a final decision on a run, Emanuel was firm Wednesday that Democrats do not need to abandon Israel in order to win the White House in 2028. But he insisted that America must chart a new course. “The status quo is unacceptable, where you can’t say anything negative, which is an implicit endorsement,” he said.
