MAGA’s rise split the American right. The deeper question now is: which flag does the movement follow? America’s, or Israel’s?
The Cradle
The US right is undergoing a rupture that is far more decisive than its culture wars or internecine policy disputes. At the core of this split are two incompatible visions: MAGA (Make America Great Again) versus MIGA (Make Israel Great Again).
It represents a fundamental clash over whose interests define the American right: the nation’s, or a foreign ally’s. Yet only one can define the future of the Republican movement.
If America comes first, then its policies, resources, and military must serve domestic priorities – not the ambitions of a foreign ally. If Israel comes first, then American sovereignty is secondary by definition.
The fracture has only sharpened after 7 October 2023 and is now reshaping the American right in real time.
The MAGA revolt against the establishment
For decades, Republican elites aligned their foreign and domestic agendas with neoconservative doctrine: endless wars, global policing, open markets, and a reflexive allegiance to Israel.
That consensus was shattered in 2016. Disaffected voters rallied to Donald Trump, who mocked figures like Jeb Bush, the last of a warmongering dynasty. Under the MAGA banner, the party’s base was recast into a new coalition: conservatives, evangelicals, religious Jews, anti-establishment activists, disillusioned independents, and even some anti-globalist voices from the left.
US President Donald Trump's populist slogan, “America First,” reflected a growing demand for national self-interest in place of international entanglements.
But this ran headfirst into the old guard’s loyalty to Israel. Could a country truly prioritize its own interests while committing unconditionally to a foreign state?
The Flood
When Israel launched its war on Gaza after Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on 7 October 2023, MAGA’s internal contradiction exploded.
The initial response followed familiar lines with conservative pundits and politicians closing ranks behind Tel Aviv. But as scenes of devastation in Gaza multiplied, many grassroots conservatives began to ask what exactly this alliance serves.
Washington was pouring more into Israel’s war effort than it had into Ukraine – with no debate, no returns, and no regard for American lives or interests. If “America First” meant anything, why was it absent here?
For decades, Republicans had repeated that Israel was “America’s greatest ally.” But Israel does not provide US jobs, technology, or security guarantees. It demands US military protection and drags Washington into regional conflicts it would otherwise avoid.
Initially, the backlash began quietly – online forums, podcast circles, and independent journalists. But it soon went mainstream.
Ben Shapiro, once the intellectual darling of the anti-woke right, found himself defending university campus crackdowns on pro-Palestine protests. This is from the man who once wrote a book titled ‘Facts Don’t Care About Your Feelings,’ mocking the liberal left’s emotional politics. Now, under the pretext of protecting Jewish students, free speech was being suspended by Republicans.
For younger conservatives raised on MAGA, this looked like betrayal. If facts do not care about feelings, why were protests being silenced? If cancel culture was the enemy, why were actors, writers, and students being blacklisted for opposing genocide?
A movement under siege
The MAGA rebellion was not only about foreign policy. It was about taking on the entire architecture of US elite power – media, academia, finance, and foreign lobbies. And one lobby in particular became untouchable.
American conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson was ousted from Fox News after amplifying critics of Israel. Right-wing commentator Candace Owens was pushed out of Daily Wire after clashing with Shapiro. Steve Bannon, one of Trump’s early strategists, began warning of Israeli influence in conservative circles.
Nick Fuentes, who rose to prominence through campus debate circuits and became one of the more extreme voices of the MAGA generation, has turned into a lightning rod in the generational fight over Israel. When Carlson recently interviewed him, Shapiro spent an entire episode denouncing both men – accusing Carlson of normalizing antisemitism and warning that Republicans who “cower before the likes of neo-Nazis and their propagandizers ... deserve to lose.”
Yet Fuentes’s long-standing opposition to US military aid for Israel resonated with younger conservatives – particularly men – who were no longer persuaded by traditional justifications for America's unconditional support.
And then came Charlie Kirk– the founder of Turning Point USA. Kirk had built one of the most influential conservative youth movements in the country. He called himself a Zionist, and denied that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
But it was not enough. Because Kirk gave a platform to critics of Israel, donors pulled support. “I've been trying to tell Israel supporters, there's an earthquake coming in this country on this issue, and they don't believe me,” Kirk said in July.
Before his assassination, he reportedly told friends he feared Israel might have him killed. Some even said he sent messages expressing that fear directly. These claims were promptly dismissed as conspiracy theories.
Nevertheless, Kirk’s assassination was a shock to the movement. And it triggered a deeper reckoning. Netanyahu, unprompted, issued a statement insisting Israel had nothing to do with it.
Yet just weeks before, in an interview with Breitbart, Netanyahu was quoted as saying, “Israel is fighting Iran, and you can’t be MAGA if you’re pro-Iran, you can’t be MAGA if you’re anti-Israel. President Trump understands this, and he stands very strongly with us.”
To many, that sounded like a threat.
The Epstein revolt
Alongside the Gaza backlash, another scandal reared its head: Jeffrey Epstein. MAGA supporters believed this was their chance to expose the perversion of elite networks. But Trump hesitated.
Before the 2024 election, he hinted the truth might come out – then cautioned that “many innocent people may get hurt.” Afterward, he turned on his own party members for pressing the issue.
Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene (MTG) and Thomas Massie demanded transparency. Trump attacked them both. He backed primary challengers against Massie and labeled MTG a traitor, withdrawing his support for her. In response to the escalating pressure and his withdrawal of support, MGT announced she would resign from Congress on 5 January 2026, citing her marginalization by MAGA leadership and the party’s elite.
Epstein’s deep ties to Israeli intelligence – whether through his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell’s Mossad-linked father, Robert Maxwell, or through Ehud Barak, the former prime minister of Israel, along with his access to bipartisan figures – raised uncomfortable questions. Adding to the controversy, leaked emails released by Democrats suggest that Epstein, who Trump once described as a “terrific guy,” said the US president “knew about the girls.”
Once again, MAGA’s confrontation with elite corruption was derailed by loyalty to Israel.
Who decides America’s future?
Two paths now stand before the American right. One leads to renewed sovereignty, to ending foreign entanglements, and putting US interests first. The other continues to place Israel’s priorities above America’s own.
In short: MAGA vs MIGA.
Today, MIGA holds institutional power. AIPAC dominates congressional primaries. Dissent is punished. Trump’s inner circle remains full of hardline Zionists like Laura Loomer. The billionaire Adelson family bankrolled his campaigns.
But MAGA still commands the base. Support for Israel among Republican voters has plummeted – from 65 percent favorable to 50 percent unfavorable. The backlash is real.
And Trump? He straddles the line. He supports Israel militarily, but cuts deals that anger Tel Aviv. He criticizes MTG, but defends Carlson’s right to speak. He fights Iran, but will not commit to regime change.
This balancing act cannot hold. As pressure builds, the Republican Party will be forced to choose.
If it returns to its neocon roots, the MAGA base may walk. If it stands with its base, MIGA must go.
One thing is clear: for one vision to survive, the other MUST fail.
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