Robert Pape (Newsmax)
The Iran war has made Israel a more consequential political issue for President Donald Trump, while rising gas prices have intensified public concern about the conflict, University of Chicago political science professor Robert Pape said Sunday on Newsmax.
“The key thing to know is before the Iran war, the Israel issue was largely an issue that was in the Democratic side of the House and, of course, some independents, but largely for President Trump, had not been that big of a problem,” Pape told Newsmax’s “Sunday Report.”
“It’s the Iran war that has magnified that,” he said. “And that is then creating the splinter.”
Pape said the conflict’s effect on energy prices was adding to its political consequences.
“And that is why he’s under so much pressure to show some results,” Pape said. “And the big challenge here is that it’s gas prices right in front of people’s front door that then magnify the Iran war, which magnifies the Israel issue.”
Pape’s comments came as Trump faced questions about his administration’s support for Israel and the political consequences of the war with Iran.
A Pew Research Center survey discussed during the interview found that 60% of U.S. adults had an unfavorable view of Israel. Across 36 places surveyed, the median was 67%. Majorities in most of those places viewed Israel unfavorably.
Pape said views of Israel had previously posed less of a political problem for Trump than for Democrats and some independents.
The Iran war changed that dynamic, Pape said, by linking views of Israel to the conflict and its economic effects on Americans.
Pape said higher gas prices were making the conflict’s political effects more visible to Americans.
He said the connection between fuel costs and the war was broadening the conflict’s political impact beyond voters already focused on Israel.
As a result, Pape said, Trump faced greater pressure to show tangible results from the conflict.
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