Israel losing US perception battle as Palestinian sympathy grows

Opinion of legislators and the US public had already begun to shift before the 11-day bombardment of Gaza.

Last month, as Israel carried out an 11-day bombing campaign on the besieged Gaza Strip and Hamas, the Palestinian group that controls the Strip, fired rockets back, something important was shifting halfway around the world. For the first time in a long time, Israel seemed to be losing ground in the battle of perception in the United States as lawmakers questioned their government’s pro-Israel policies. “This is not about both sides,” said US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a speech, “this is about an imbalance of power,” which tilts in favour of Israel largely because of American military and diplomatic support.