Over the past several months, a disturbing trend has taken root on the far right: a growing chorus of voices accusing many people like myself, who are day one MAGA and President Trump supporters who support Israel of being “Israel First” and therefore in their eyes, we cannot be pro-America or MAGA any longer. How absurd!
It’s a cheap and dangerous slur that betrays both historical ignorance and moral confusion. Supporting Israel has never been about putting another country before our own. It’s about standing shoulder to shoulder with an ally that shares America’s deepest values: freedom, democracy, faith, and the fight against terrorism.
Let’s be clear: you can’t call yourself “America First” while abandoning America’s friends. When President Donald J. Trump spoke in the Knesset this week and declared, “I love Israel,” with the words that followed “Never Again and Never Forget” he wasn’t renouncing his America First agenda. He was reaffirming it.
President Trump understands something the isolationists and online provocateurs do not: that America is strongest when we lead with strength, entering his “peace through strength” mantra.
Israel is not just an ally; it’s a partner that multiplies our power, intelligence, and moral clarity in a dangerous world.
President Trump’s record speaks louder than any slogan. He recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, moved our embassy there, withdrew from the disastrous Iran nuclear deal, and brokered the Abraham Accords, the most significant peace agreements in the Middle East in a generation. Each of those actions advanced American interests and global stability. Each of them was rooted in the belief that a secure Israel means a safer America.
This is what real America First leadership looks like, not pandering to online grifters or conspiracy theorists who spend their days spreading anti-Semitic tropes dressed up as “nationalism.” The America First movement was built on strength, not scapegoating.
Our alliance with Israel isn’t charity. It's a strategy. Israel gives America critical intelligence on Iran, counterterrorism cooperation that saves American lives, and technological innovation that powers our industries. From missile defense systems to cybersecurity, Israel has been an indispensable partner. That’s not “Israel First.” That’s called good foreign policy.
The far right’s attacks on pro-Israel Americans, including our President, who is most certainly pro-Israel, are not just wrong; they’re reckless. They divide our movement and weaken our moral compass at a time when unity and clarity are needed most. Every minute spent accusing fellow conservatives of “dual loyalty” is a minute wasted helping the left’s narrative that the right is descending into extremism.
When conservatives attack Israel or American Jews, they don’t just undermine a vital alliance; they hand the left exactly what it wants: a divided right, distracted from real issues like border security, inflation, and rebuilding our middle class.
Let’s not forget that Israel stands as the only democracy in the Middle East, surrounded by regimes that despise America and everything we represent. When Israel fights Hamas, Hezbollah, or Iran’s terror proxies, it’s fighting the same radical ideologies that target Americans. To oppose Israel in that struggle is to turn your back on the front lines of freedom.
President Trump has shown us what moral clarity looks like on the largest stage possible. He never wavered in his support for Israel, even when the political establishment mocked him and those in the Republican party tried to put pressure on him. They failed.
He stood in Jerusalem and told the world: “The bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable.” Those who now question that bond and attack anyone who defends it should take a long, hard look in the mirror. If you claim to stand for America but cheer when a terrorist regime threatens one of our allies, you’ve lost sight of what America First really means.
President Trump’s America First doctrine was never about isolation. It was about prioritizing American interests and respecting our friends who share those interests. Israel has proven time and again that it is one of those friends. To turn our back on Israel would be to betray the very principles that made America great: faith, courage, loyalty, and freedom.
It’s time for this nonsense to end. The attacks on American patriots who stand with Israel must stop immediately.
True conservatives know that supporting Israel doesn’t make us less American; it makes us more committed to the ideals that define America and to the very Judeo-Christian principles our nation was founded upon.
Our enemies would love nothing more than to see the conservative movement fracture over anti-Israel rhetoric. The left despises both the America First movement and the U.S.–Israel alliance. We shouldn’t be doing their work for them.
If supporting Israel makes you question someone’s loyalty to America, then you’ve misunderstood what it means to be an American patriot. President Trump’s leadership and his simple words, “I love Israel,” remind us that America First and Israel strong are not competing ideas. They are complementary truths. A world where Israel thrives is a world where American strength endures.
It’s time for our movement to remember who we are: unapologetically America First, unshakably pro-freedom, and proudly supportive of our greatest ally in the Middle East. Because standing with Israel doesn’t make us less American, it proves we still stand for what’s right.
Bryan E. Leib is the CEO of Henry Public Relations and Foreign Policy Advisor to Congressman Abe Hamadeh (AZ-08). He can be reached at bleib@henrypr.com