Tucker, Candace, MAGA and conservative civil war over Israel

For decades, few issues enjoyed more bipartisan consensus in US foreign policy than unconditional support for Israel. Within the Republican Party, in particular, Israel was more than an ally - it was a symbol. Evangelicals viewed it as sacred fulfillment of prophecy. Neoconservatives hailed it as a democratic outpost in a hostile region. And populists cast it as a frontline partner in the "war on terror".

But that consensus is cracking.

The brutal and unrelenting Gaza war - marked by tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths, widespread devastation and global condemnation - has opened deep ideological fissures on the American right. Long-simmering doubts about foreign aid, military entanglements and Israel's human rights record have erupted into a visible and growing civil war.

Recent polling from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and Reuters/Ipsos underscores this realignment. While older Republicans continue to back Israel staunchly, nearly half of Republicans under 35 now oppose US military aid to Israel. The generational gap is striking - and politically consequential.

This is not simply a policy debate. It is a clash over identity, nationalism and the very meaning of conservatism in post-Trump America.

Few embody the new dissident current more than Tucker Carlson, arguably the most influential right-wing media voice since Trump. Carlson has openly questioned the US commitment to Israel, likening its entanglements to the costly and disastrous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. On his show, he has repeatedly asked: "How does this help the American people?"

His message - skeptical, nationalist, non-interventionist - resonates deeply with younger MAGA voters who are more concerned with inflation, border security and domestic decay than with geopolitics in the Middle East.

Carlson has even gone as far as suggesting the US "drop Israel", provoking outrage from traditional conservatives but drawing applause from the online right.

Another lightning rod is Candace Owens, one of the most prominent Black conservative commentators. Owens criticised Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and posted harrowing images of Palestinian children killed in the bombings. "What's happening is collective punishment," she wrote, "and conservatives should speak out."

She was swiftly attacked. Owens lost contracts and was publicly rebuked by conservative pundits. But she did not back down. In a viral statement, Owens said the American right had "sold its soul" to defend atrocities abroad while ignoring injustice at home.

Owens' defiance has emboldened others.

Figures like Milo Yiannopoulos, Nick Fuentes and fringe MAGA influencers have embraced increasingly aggressive rhetoric - not only attacking Israel but alleging "Zionist control" of conservative media. While some of the language is antisemitic and conspiratorial, it reflects a wider undercurrent of resentment on the populist right: that support for Israel has become a litmus test, enforced by elite gatekeepers at the expense of truth and debate.

Even Steve Bannon, the architect of Trump's 2016 victory, has allowed more critical voices onto his "War Room" podcast. While Bannon himself stops short of denouncing Israel, he warns that "foreign entanglements" distract from core nationalist priorities. Similarly, Marjorie Taylor Greene, who once visited illegal Israeli settlements, has called out AIPAC and recently declared: "We cannot write blank checks while Americans suffer."

These shifts are generational as much as ideological. Unlike their parents, younger Republicans are more online than in pews. They are shaped less by Cold War allegiances or Christian Zionism than by memes, podcasts and libertarian skepticism.

As a result, the traditional pro-Israel consensus - enforced through AIPAC lobbying, donor pressure and moral appeals - is losing its grip.

This is visible across platforms. Right-wing Telegram groups, podcasts and YouTube channels are awash in critiques of Israel. Hashtags like #GazaGenocide, #MAGA4Palestine and #NoMoreForeignAid trend regularly. Comment sections once filled with Islamophobia now bristle with calls to redirect US funds from Tel Aviv to Detroit.

In short: Gaza has triggered a reckoning.

Ironically, many conservatives now find themselves censored by the very movement that claims to champion free speech. From Tucker to Candace, from grassroots activists to YouTubers, the penalty for breaking with pro-Israel orthodoxy is swift: loss of sponsors, speaking gigs and political cover.

This contradiction has not gone unnoticed.

The thinking is: If they can cancel Candace Owens for saying Palestinian lives matter then what makes the right different from the "woke mob?"

The double standard is especially glaring when compared with left-wing spaces, where pro-Palestinian activism has long faced repression. Now, the same tactics - blacklists, de-platforming, smears - are being used by conservative institutions against their own dissenters.

The implications go beyond Gaza. As the American right fractures over Israel, it also rethinks its global alliances. An "America First" GOP may not only scale back aid to Israel but reconsider ties with India, NATO and the Gulf states. Foreign policy - once outsourced to think tanks and megadonors - is now a battleground for ideological soul-searching.

This shift is also global. Right-wing parties in Europe, from Marine Le Pen's National Rally to Germany's AfD, are increasingly divided over Israel. As the global far right embraces ethnonationalism and anti-globalism, support for Israel - once seen as a model of fortress nationalism - now sparks ambivalence. The scenes from Gaza have turned many voters off.

The old coalition that once united evangelicals, neoconservatives and MAGA nationalists is no longer tenable. Gaza has made that clear. The new conservative movement is less beholden to sacred alliances and more willing to ask: What do we get in return?

Figures like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens may not agree on everything. But together, they are forcing the right to confront uncomfortable questions: Why is criticism of Israel off-limits? Who decides what counts as conservative? And can a movement claim to fight for truth and freedom while silencing its own?

These are not just questions for Republicans. They are questions for a democracy struggling to reconcile its values with its policies - both at home and abroad.

One thing is certain: Israel is no longer immune to criticism from the right. And the civil war over Gaza is just beginning.