Comedian Theo Fon is not exactly obsessed with the Middle East.
He probably has never traveled to the area or at least not before October 8, 2023. He is also not an expert on Israeli-Palestinian relations. Frankly, I don’t have either. (Subscribe to Mr. Right, a weekly newsletter on modern masculinity)
nevertheless In an episode of his podcast On Tuesday, Fong offered his views on Israel. It was probably considered “hot” ten years ago, but now it feels more and more common.
“We feel like it’s owned by Israel…and we didn’t know about it,” he told guest Mark Normand.
Theo von: “We feel like it’s owned by Israel…and we never knew about it.”
to follow: @afpost
pic.twitter.com/qj8xyunan1– af post (@afpost) April 10, 2025
Fon is not alone. The number of Americans who have begun to question the pro-Israel stories given to them through corporate media and An elected official who took money It has grown from AIPAC, the American Israeli Public Relations Committee.
According to 53% of Americans hold Israel’s somewhat or very unfavorable views of Pew Research Report published in April, an increase of 11 points since March 2022.
This change is even more surprising among Americans aged 18-49 who are Republicans or lean Republicans. In 2022, only 35% of this group held negative views of Israel. By 2025, that number reached 50%.
Topshot – Protesters waving the Palestinian flag at West Lawn at Columbia University in New York on April 29, 2024. A student demonstrator at Columbia University, the epicenter of Palestinian protests that erupted at US universities, said they were upset and not opposed to an ultimatum that would disband or face a halt until the school responded to their demands. (Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP) (Photo by Getty Images/AFP)
Meanwhile, only 23% of Republicans over the age of 50 view Israel negatively. The majority of them also have confidence in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “do the right thing about world affairs,” but 45% of young Republicans or adults along the GOP are not that many or at all.
So why does the gap between two generations of conservatives expand and expand?
Perhaps the biggest reason is social media.
Before the emergence of Instagram, Tiktok, X, YouTube, podcasts, livestreams and more, stories from Israel and Gaza were filtered top-down through corporate media, politicians and lobbying groups. The United States is an ally with Israel, and Western media has restrained its coverage in favor of, for example, Ukraine, and with the Jewish state. In 2008, if you saw or read news about Israel and Gaza, you may have received a simple message in favor of Israel. That government and military misconduct and war crimes may have been overlooked or completely hidden by journalists.
But almost 20 years later, you now have something to pick up on many alternative news sources. It also provides access to unfiltered videos and images directly from the war itself that is spreading on social media, away from the scope of news organizations and Israeli lawmakers and lobbyists. Netanyahu may try to spin the devastating bombing of Gaza as needed with the goal of “eramination” Hamas, but he has no control over the bloody and unstable civilian videos before and after images of the neighbourhood where flood platforms like X and Tiktok stood.
And who consumes the most social media content while bypassing traditional news outlets? Of course Zoomer.
The painted sign stands at a Palestinian protest camp held at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts on May 1, 2024. The weeks of the demonstrations, the most drastic and long-term uncertainty that locks US university campuses since the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s and ’70s, have already arrested hundreds of arrests and other activists. (Photo: Joseph Prezioso/AFP) (Photo by Joseph Prezioso/AFP by Getty Images)
Young Republicans are not only finding new perspectives online during the Israeli-Gaza War, but are also ideologically broken, especially in foreign policy and the role of America in the world. Older Republicans are skeptical of aid to Ukraine and may view its president, Volodymea Zelensky, as a weasel reaching the massive US taxpayer. However, when it comes to Israel and Netanyahu, they seem to be in short supply.
But increasingly, young conservatives are hostile to Ukraine and Israel. For many of them, America’s first policy should actually put America first, and countries that do not mean that they claim they are acting in our best interests should not receive billions of dollars of aid. Especially when the country uses our aid and weapons to fund local wars and kill countless civilians.
New: We have obtained new footage of Tufts student Runeysa Ozturk’s adduction. pic.twitter.com/gucwfxdnoi
– Daniel Bogslaw (@drboguslaw) March 26, 2025
Finally, the recent target of federal pro-Palestinian activists has done much more harm than it is by the pro-Israel cause.
In late March, six plain cross ice agents surrounded Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old Turkish national and doctoral student at Tufts University on Boston Street, arrested her and kicked her out without prior warning. No charges have been filed by the government, but her immigration status has ended. Oztark is currently being held at a Louisiana facility as her lawyer I’ll try to secure it Her release.
Why did she essentially disappear? 2024, Ozturk Co-authored The student newspaper operator refused to honor her school’s demands from pro-Palestinian activists and refused to sell it from Israel. However, the government argued that harmless articles are equivalent to crime, and Homeland Security spokesman Tricia McLaughlin said authorities determined that Ozturk was “engaged in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that tasted the murder of Americans.”
The case of Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil, who has been involved in Palestinian rallies and demonstrations for a long time, is surprisingly similar. In mid-March, Ice Agent arrested Halil in an apartment in New York City. The government accused him of being a “pro terrorist” but failed to provide concrete evidence, or Even allegations of criminal conduct. The government argues that Halil’s “convictions, statements, or associations” will compromise the interests of US foreign policy, as determined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The Louisiana immigration judge is scheduled to control his release on Friday. (Related: Loftus: targeting right-wing activists, right) could be making a costly error.)
Whether authorities were legally justified to steal Ozturk on the streets and arrest Halil in his apartment, what impression will give Americans who may not have any opinion in the Gaza War. Does anyone care at all about Israel and Palestine, the IDF and Hamas?
Certainly not good, and the federal government is trying to punish people with negative views of Israel — even foreigners with student visas, they will get optics. Neutrals looking at the sidelines begin to ask questions about all attempts to shut up the opposition. Why is the world’s most powerful government taking such extreme actions against a single student over a single operation? Why do politicians collect so much money from AIPAC? Why are criticism of the Israeli government treated as anti-Semitic hate speech? Why do we give them so much help in the first place?
Many young people are probably on Theo Fon’s boats today. They are beginning to feel differently about Israel, and they are beginning to ask questions – and for good reason.
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