Do the pro-Palestinian protests signal a generational shift in U.S. attitudes about Israel?

The relationship between the United States and Israel has been a tight embrace almost ever since the founding of the Jewish-led state 76 years ago.

Israel has relied on U.S. money, weapons and global diplomatic defense to survive and thrive. Until recently, the support was unflagging from a bipartisan core of Congress and American politicians, and generally from U.S. voters as well.

Formed as a refuge for Holocaust survivors, Israel was often portrayed as a victim and an enduring U.S. ally in a tough and dangerous part of the world.

Israel's seven-month-old war against the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip is testing that relationship.

Reacting to tens of thousands of civilian Palestinian deaths, young Americans are protesting at numerous college campuses across the country. While there have been pro-Israel demonstrations as well, the largest and loudest have been in support of Palestinians.

Here's a closer look at what the protests might mean for the U.S.-Israel relationship, U.S.-Mideast policy and whether the next generation of Americans will chart a different course.

Why are young people suddenly so interested in this issue?

The Palestinian cause — the quest by millions of Palestinians for independence and a sovereign state after massive displacement by the creation of Israel in 1948 — was wholly marginalized during the Trump administration and remained on the back burner as President Biden pursued normalization of Israeli ties with its Arab neighbors.

Then came Oct. 7, 2023. Legions of Hamas militants and allies swarmed from Gaza into southern Israel, killing, torching and taking hostages. Around 1,200 Israelis on several kibbutzim and at a music festival were killed; more than 200 were captured and hauled back to Gaza.

Israel's retaliation was brutal and massive. More than 34,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes and land attacks. Most of Gaza's population of 2.3 million has been forced to flee their demolished homes.

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