From the hills of Judea and Samaria, I am writing to you this month with a message that reaches beyond the headlines, one that I believe every person who loves this land and its people needs to hear.
A striking and troubling statistic has been circulating widely: only 13% of young Americans between the ages of 18–34 hold a positive view of Israel today, compared to 26% just two years ago.
Many have attributed this sharp decline to the war in Gaza following the October 7th massacre or to dissatisfaction with Israeli leadership. Yet the truth runs deeper.
Recent U.S. polling data reveals a broader and more profound shift. Among young Democrats, pride in being American has dropped dramatically, from 87% in 2001 to just 36% today. Among Republicans, by contrast, it has remained steady at 92%.
These findings suggest that the erosion of support for Israel among young Americans may not be primarily about Israel at all.
Rather, it reflects a sweeping cultural transformation, one marked by growing alienation from the very concept of nationhood, and from the belief that a nation has the right and responsibility to defend its homeland.
This phenomenon is not new. In December 1969, an Israeli government commission, convened just 500 days after the miraculous Six Day War of 1967 that liberated the Biblical Heartland, identified similar forces already at work.
The report pointed to hostile, left-wing intellectual circles, as well as vast sums of Arab petrodollars funding university chairs, student organizations, and publications aimed at delegitimizing the Jewish state.
Four core accusations began to take shape:
- 1) that Israel was a product of imperialism;
- 2) that it had dispossessed another people;
- 3) that it belonged to the Western camp of nations; and 4) that it was inherently religious and racist.
More than fifty years later, the script has scarcely changed. Only the platforms are different. This means that the challenge before us is not merely one of public relations, but of generational and even civilizational depth across three distinct layers:
- 1) Tactical – specific policies that can be debated and refined;
- 2) Strategic – decades of well-funded narrative warfare that must be met with sustained and thoughtful investment;
- 3) Structural – a deeper shift in the values of Western societies, one that cannot simply be reversed by a single speech, policy, or ceasefire.
You, as a Bible believer who stands with Israel not for political reasons but for covenantal ones, understand something that no poll can measure. The story of the Land and the People of Israel is woven into something eternal.
The hills upon which we are raising our families today are the very same hills Abraham walked, where the prophets spoke, and where the roots of your own faith in the God of Israel were first planted. That is why your partnership matters so deeply. YOU are an essential part of the response needed to the challenges we face today. And so I would like to leave you with a question this month that has constantly been on my mind:
What can we do together, right now, to ensure that the next generation, our children and yours, will inherit a living and unshakable commitment to the cause of restoring and rebuilding the Land of Israel?
Shmuel Junger
Executive Director