إصدار

مجلد 5 عدد 2 (2026)

الحقوق الفكرية (c) 2026 Osama Abu Nahel, Ibrahim Al-Zaeem (Author)

Creative Commons License

هذا العمل مرخص بموجب Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The Future of Israel in the United States and Western Europe: Shifts in Political Legitimacy Post-Gaza War

https://doi.org/10.61312/6jjcc596
Osama Abu Nahel
Ibrahim Al-Zaeem

Corresponding Author(s) : Osama Abu Nahel

[email protected]

مجلة المبادرة , مجلد 5 عدد 2 (2026)

الملخص

This study examines the shifts in Israel's political legitimacy across the United States and Western Europe following the 2023 Gaza War. It posits that the Western support is no longer a monolithic bloc but has undergone a process of "normative fragmentation" under the pressure of moral and legal conditionality. Employing a comparative analytical approach, the research utilizes a “divergence indicators” framework to measure the gap between grassroots legitimacy (based on Pew Research Center, YouGov, and Eurobarometer data) and official/institutional legitimacy.


The findings suggest a structural transformation in legitimacy: while the United States maintains a “strategic legitimacy,” Western Europe exhibits sharp variations among models of “steadfast support” (Germany), “pragmatic balancing” (France), and “critical revisionism” (Spain and Ireland). The study highlights the role of “responsiveness to international institutional pressures” as a mediating variable that has redefined the boundaries of political acceptability in Western discourse

The Future of Israel in the United States and Western Europe: Shifts in Political Legitimacy Post-Gaza War. (2026). مجلة المبادرة , 5(2), 34. https://doi.org/10.61312/6jjcc596
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    The Future of Israel in the United States and Western Europe: Shifts in Political Legitimacy Post-Gaza War. (2026). مجلة المبادرة , 5(2), 34. https://doi.org/10.61312/6jjcc596