The international community is increasingly turning against Israel’s ongoing military onslaught in Gaza, in large part due to a growing civilian death toll and humanitarian crisis. That’s putting new pressure on Israel’s government and its closest ally, the US, which is supplying and backing the Israeli offensive.
This change has been evident in the last few weeks as global support for a ceasefire has grown, and as US public opinion has also moved in that direction. A UN vote this week highlighted the shift: 153 countries in the body’s General Assembly, the overwhelming majority, voted in favor of an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. That’s an uptick from October, when 121 countries in the General Assembly similarly backed a humanitarian truce. Notably, US allies Canada, Australia, and Japan were among the countries that voted in the affirmative this week after abstaining in October. The US, meanwhile, was one of a handful of countries to oppose the ceasefire resolution, while some of its other allies, including Germany and the United Kingdom, abstained.
“As this continues over the next few weeks, you’re going to see even greater distance between the US and its allies, and the US and Israel increasingly isolated,” says Osamah Khalil, the chair of international relations at Syracuse University.
Because the Israeli government views the fight with Hamas as an existential one, however, shifts in global opinion aren’t expected to compel it to change course. Similarly, experts expect the US — which has long been one of Israel’s closest allies and sources of military aid — to maintain its staunch support due to the longstanding relationship between the two and its own interests in the region.
US President Joe Biden has begun moderating his tone on Israel in recent weeks, but changes to the US’s position on the war have been largely rhetorical for now. As long as Israel has US backing, the growing global pushback it faces isn’t poised…
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