Last July, then-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote a social media post accusing Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza. Matt Brooks, the chief executive of the Republican Jewish Coalition, dismissed her statement as “outlandish” and “ridiculous,” but Steve Bannon, the former aide to Donald Trump and influential podcaster, defended her. “Marjorie Taylor Greene just reflects her constituency,” Bannon told The New York Times. He described her constituency as “hard-core evangelical Christians.”
Over the last six months, the media has abounded with reports about a conservative division over Israel — pitting critics of Israel like Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Bannon and Greene against hard-line Zionists such as Mark Levin and Ben Shapiro. But what was mostly left unsaid was what Bannon asserted: that in denouncing Israel, Greene was “channeling” conservative evangelicals. Weren’t they supposed to be the bedrock of Republican support for Israel?
Unbeknownst to much of Washington — and long before conservative pundits and politicians began this recent round of sniping — subterranean changes have been taking place in the Republican base. Young Republicans, including young evangelicals, have become increasingly disenchanted with their party’s uncritical support for Israel. Greene was speaking for them.