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House Speaker Mike Johnson defended the U.S.–Israel alliance as a strategic necessity in the Middle East, and said antisemitism must be “universally rejected.”
His comments come as Republicans confront widening divisions over U.S. support for Israel and how the party should respond to rising antisemitism.
During an interview on “The Katie Miller Podcast,” in response to what Miller called a “schism” in the GOP over Israel, Johnson said he wished “everybody would acknowledge the importance of that relationship,” noting many Americans view support for Israel as rooted in “scripturally based, biblical reasons.”
“But even if you don’t accept that,” he continued, “you have to look at this objectively and say it’s really important to have that ally and partner in that corner of the world, and it’s the only stable democracy in the Middle East. It’s a tinderbox.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., briefs the media on the timeline to possibly end the government shutdown in the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, Nov. 10, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“You can make all sorts of arguments of why this is a really important friendship and alliance. But the antisemitism stuff ought to be universally rejected and called out. And I’m very insistent about that,” Johnson told Miller. “We got to love everybody and certainly the Jewish people.”
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A small but increasingly vocal number of House Republicans have begun to break with the party’s traditional pro-Israel stance, most notably Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky.
Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie break with the GOP’s traditional pro-Israel stance. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
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Greene, who announced she will resign from Congress in January 2026, has been a vocal critic of U.S. policy toward Israel and called for cuts to military aid to Jerusalem.
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Massie has long opposed U.S. military aid to Israel and criticized the influence of pro-Israel lobbying groups, particularly AIPAC, on American foreign policy.
