Blame schools, media, Democrats for negative views of Israel

OPINION:

In a Pew Research Center survey of citizens in three dozen countries, most express negative views of Israel — and this includes the majority in America. Not surprisingly, it’s the Muslim-dominated countries that see Israel through the darkest of eyes. But in the United States, the numbers go like this: 28% have an unfavorable view of Israel; 32% have a somewhat unfavorable view; 26 % have a somewhat favorable view; and 11% have a very favorable view of the Jewish nation. 

Woe to America. Do the math. Fully 60% of Americans view Israel in an unfavorable light versus 37% favorable — and 3% who don’t really know or didn’t answer.

Blame the schools. Blame the media. Blame Democrats, too.

These three factors, taken together, are the reason so many college campuses just a short while ago exploded in blatant antisemitic protests and violence. 

In September of 2025, the House subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education of the Committee on Education and Workforce held a hearing, “Understanding the Root Causes of Antisemitism in K-12 Education.” It’s not a myth.

“There are multiple ways anti-Jewish ideology is becoming institutionalized in K-12 education, including teacher training programs, foreign-funded learning materials, radical union members and curriculum development organizations,” the subcommittee reported. Of note: “Multiple public school districts receive funds from Qatari Foundation International, an instrument of the Qatari royal family that is somehow able to operate as a 501(c)(3) in the United States outside of Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) regulations.”

On top of that, the subcommittee found several instances of teachers’ salaries being paid directly from foreign sources, and several other instances of university-level education departments distributing antisemitic, anti-Jewish materials directly to K-12 schools for use in the classroom.

Teach the children in the way to go and they will not depart from it when they’re older.

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No wonder so many antisemitic protesters — some of whom physically chased and harmed their fellow students who were Jewish — ran rampant on so many university and college campuses during the Joe Biden presidential years.

Democrats enable these types of antisemitic shows because they’re largely silent, or because when they do speak up, they tend to draw equivalencies between Jews and Islamic terrorists; between Israel and Israel’s many enemies; between the Jewish nation and its attackers, such as Hamas and Iran and Hezbollah.

The Democrat defense of Israel goes like this: Yes, it’s wrong to attack Israel. But Israel should stop attacking the Palestinian people.

Democrats typically don’t draw distinctions between innocent Jewish people and the brutal savages who want to see them eradicated from the face of the earth. And if they do draw distinctions, it’s only for a short period of time. In the aftermath of Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel and murdered, raped, abducted and tortured Jews of all ages, from grown men and women to young mothers with babies, the Democrats and their friends in the global communities expressed horror and shock — for a few days. After that, these same Democrats and company wanted to know why Israel was waging such an atrocious military campaign against the poor innocents in Gaza.

They say truth is the first casualty of war.

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Democrats carry this out well.

So, too, most in the media.

It’s one thing when members of the media commit open acts of bias — as The New York Times did in April of 2019, by publishing a cartoon depicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a dog on a leash and wearing a Star of David collar, while being led by the skullcap-wearing President Trump, who was portrayed as blind. For that, the newspaper issued an apology.

But what about the many, many, many more instances of reporting that show Israel in a negative light, either falsely or unnecessarily so? 

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From The Hill, in a piece titled “Four takeaways from Trump’s explosive interview” that was posted just this week, and beneath the section with the subhead, “Trump wants Israeli attacks on Hezbollah to be ‘more surgical’” — this: “One source of contention during peace talks has been Israel’s strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon, which the former has carried out for multiple years and resumed upon the start of the Iran war.”

That’s called a what the f—- moment.

Hezbollah — a terror group that serves as Iran’s proxy — has been launching missiles and bombs at Israel for years, and Israel, in defense, has been launching back. As a matter of fact, a day after Hamas rode into the Nova Festival music field and savagely murdered and raped and injured Jews, Hezbollah took advantage of the vulnerability of Israel and began its own bombing campaign. It was the terror group’s way of showing solidarity with Hamas, while also causing more unrest for the Jewish people.

It’s the subtle that sometimes proves the most damaging.

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And in the end, it all bleeds into the ongoing negativity against Israel. 

“Across the 36 countries, a median of 67% of adults have an unfavorable view of Israel, while 25% have a favorable view,” Pew wrote.

Just think how those numbers would differ in a world where truthful history was taught in schools, where the media couldn’t get by with its lies because too many would be able to discern the lies, and where the Democrats wouldn’t have an audience to embolden and cheer as they went about their ugly antisemitic ways.

• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “God-Given Or Bust: Defeating Marxism and Saving America With Biblical Truths,” is available by clicking HERE.

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