Israel's leading outlets reacted with alarm on Wednesday after the Democratic Party captured both the US House of Representatives and the Senate in the midterm elections, warning that lawmakers opposed to US military aid to Israel are heading to Congress in growing numbers.
At least 11 Democrats who have backed Palestinian rights and opposed US military support for Israel won seats across both chambers, swelling the ranks of Tel Aviv's critics in the US legislature.
Channel 14, a network aligned with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called the outcome a "major blow to Trump and Israel," expecting Democrats in charge of the foreign affairs, defense, and appropriations committees to put US weapons sales and deliveries to Israel under a far harsher spotlight.
Yedioth Ahronoth branded the vote a "historic blue tsunami" and a humiliating defeat for US President Donald Trump, noting that Democrats broke through in districts once considered safely Republican, and are now positioned to obstruct legislation favorable to Israel.
The Jerusalem Post blamed the sweeping Republican loss chiefly on the US-Israeli war on Iran, launched on February 28, warning that the rise of Israel’s critics in Washington "represents a shift that Israel cannot afford to ignore."
Maariv singled out the state of Maine, where Democrat Troy Jackson ousted Senator Susan Collins, an Israel ally in office since 1997, on a platform of ending US military aid to Tel Aviv, calling the wider Democratic victory a sign of the party’s shifting balance on Israel.
Times of Isreal/Reuters headline: After midterms, opposition leaders accuse Netanyahu of harming relationship with US
Haaretz pointed to the Michigan Senate win of progressive Democrat Abdul el-Sayed, the chamber’s first Muslim member, over AIPAC-backed Republican Mike Rogers as proof that fierce opposition to Israel no longer hinders candidates but in fact strengthens their standing with the US public.
AIPAC failed to stop El-Sayed despite pouring more than $30 million into Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, the most it has ever spent on a single race, and later directing up to $9 million to a super PAC backing Rogers, part of a midterm spending push that topped $100 million across its PAC and super PAC, according to Sludge.