WASHINGTON (AP) — Rahm Emanuelpotential Democratic presidential candidate and longtime defender of Israel will denounce the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv this week and send a bracing message that the country’s relationship with the United States is “at a crossroads.”
“It cannot stand or survive in the form it has been,” Emanuel will say Wednesday at Tel Aviv University, according to remarks obtained by The Associated Press. “To keep our ties strong, we need significant change and new direction.”
The speech, delivered by a stalwart of the Democrats’ centrist wing, is another demonstration of how far their party has strayed from its historical support for Israel.
About 58% of Democrats say the U.S. is “too supportive” of the Israelis, according to the data. new poll up from 45% in January 2024, according to The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About half of Democrats believe Israel committed genocide against Palestinians during the Gaza war. This accusation has been made by some human rights organizations and has been categorically rejected by Israel and the US government.
Emanuel’s proposals would include sanctions on Israelis who attack Palestinian civilians and property, as well as companies and banks that support settlements that much of the international community considers illegal. He also wants to end U.S. subsidies to Israel’s defense budget, arguing that the country “should be able to buy American weapons on the same financial terms, with the same restrictions and the same requirements as any other trusted ally that abides by our laws.”
In addition, Emanuel will accuse Netanyahu of driving Israel into a “dead end”, emboldened by poor decisions by American leaders.
Rahm Emanuel performs at a house party in Concord, New Hampshire on Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Steven Sloan)
Rahm Emanuel performs at a house party in Concord, New Hampshire on Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Steven Sloan)
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“For too long, American policy toward Israel has been based on the assumption that the best Washington could do for Jerusalem was to blindly and silently support your government, without conditions, without demands, and without consequences if we disagreed,” he will say. “It was our mistake. Unconditional support resulted in a prime minister who assumed that his strategic interests would not suffer any loss if he ignored American concerns.”
There is no precedent for an American with presidential ambitions to travel to another country, especially one as dangerous as Israel, to make such a strong rebuke of its political leadership. Centrist figures such as Emanuel were more reluctant than Progressive Democratic base question long-standing US support for Israel in recent years.
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How will Netanyahu react?
His remarks could draw an equally violent response from Netanyahu, who once called Emanuel, who was seeking to become the first Jewish speaker of the US House of Representatives, a “self-hating Jew.” Netanyahu faces his own re-election battle in October, and the veteran leader may try to use the confrontation with Emanuel for political gain by showing his toughness in the face of international criticism.
But for possible Democratic presidential candidates determining how to deal with the fallout Israel’s war in Gaza and Netanyahu’s alleged bias towards the President’s Republican Party Donald TrumpSpeech is a particularly frontal strategy. The war has fractured political coalitions in both major U.S. political parties and young voters have recoiled from Israel’s approach to the conflict, forcing American leaders to take a harder line. The issue has roiled some of the Democratic congressional primaries this year and could continue to be the dividing line in the race for the party’s 2028 presidential nomination.
President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives at the West Wing of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives at the West Wing of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Criticizing Netanyahu for doing little to advance diplomatic efforts to end the war, Emanuel noted that “support for Israel is plummeting around the world.”
“You have lost Europe,” he will say. “Your scientists face exclusion from international research networks. Your artists and scientists are not allowed to participate in exhibitions and conferences.”
Support for Israel is waning
While Netanyahu has generally forged strong ties with Trump and the Republican Party, support for Israel among Democrats has declined in recent years. But in portraying Israel as increasingly isolated, there are echoes of Emanuel’s comments recent remarks from the vice president JD Vancea sign of how criticism of the country is spreading across both parties. Speaking recently in the White House briefing room as the US worked to negotiate an agreement to end the war with Iran, Vance said Trump is “the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the people of Israel at this moment.”
For all his harsh words, Emanuel, a Jew whose father was born in Jerusalem, expresses notes of sympathy and understanding. He admitted the losses terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023 during which Hamas-led militants carried out air and ground strikes on Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages. He noted disappointments from previous rounds of peace talks with Palestinian leaders.
“But even while acknowledging this history, the path forward cannot be held hostage by a past defined solely by mutual recriminations,” he will say.
He will call the two-state solution “discredited” and will instead push for a “23-state solution” that includes Israel, the Palestinians and 21 other Arab League members in the peace deal.
Rahm Emanuel performs at a house party in Concord, New Hampshire on Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Steven Sloan)
Rahm Emanuel performs at a house party in Concord, New Hampshire on Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Steven Sloan)
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“The 21 Arab countries that have exploited Palestinian rights as a slogan for decades must now roll up their sleeves and create a governing body capable of recognizing the historical connection of Jews to this land,” he will say.
While no prominent Democrats have officially entered the 2028 race, that could change soon after the November midterm elections and the field could eventually swell to dozens. Few have been as vocal about their intentions as Emanuel, a former White House chief of staff, congressman, Chicago mayor and U.S. ambassador who has held some government office for much of the past three decades. There is no such post now, but he attracted attention by releasing the series policy proposalsbiking through early voting state New Hampshireappearing on podcasts and expanding their social media presence.
Rahm Emanuel takes a break from a bike ride in New Hampshire, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Steven Sloan)
Rahm Emanuel takes a break from a bike ride in New Hampshire, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Steven Sloan)
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People reported from New York.