Berk Kutay Gokmen
10 July 2026•Update: 10 July 2026
Rahm Emanuel, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, has said that Washington’s long-standing policy of blindly supporting the Israeli government without any conditions or demands has been a mistake.
The former US ambassador and Chicago mayor said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has increasingly isolated Israel, turning it into a “territorial pariah,” during a speech at Tel Aviv University on Wednesday.
“Support for Israel is plummeting around the world,” Emanuel said.
“You cannot fight indefinitely against a world that has stopped believing you have the right to fight,” he said. “You must instead find a new sustainable path to peace, security, and economic prosperity. America stands ready.”
“In 2022, 55% of Americans held a favorable view of Israel. Today, it is 37% and it is dropping,” he said.
He also criticized Israel’s recent foreign policy, saying its only new diplomatic gain was recognition from Somaliland, which lacks widespread international recognition.
“As my grandmother used to say, ‘You lost Europe, you lost America, and you picked up Somaliland; such a deal,’” he said.
During his visit, Emanuel met with President Isaac Herzog but not with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who reportedly called him a “self-hating Jew” in 2009 after Emanuel criticized Israel’s expansion of illegal settlements.
