Rahm Emanuel moves to the left on Israel

2028 electionRahm Emanuel moves to the left on Israel Emanuel, who worked on a massive Iron Dome defense package as President Barack Obama's chief of staff, is calling for an end to U.S. taxpayer military funding for Israel. Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Rahm Emanuel, a longtime supporter of Israeli defense efforts, says the U.S. should stop sending military aid to Israel.Shoko Takayasu / Bloomberg via Getty Images fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleApril 20, 2026, 7:27 PM EDTBy Natasha KoreckiRahm Emanuel, the former chief of staff to President Barack Obama and a potential 2028 presidential hopeful, is making waves after calling for an end to U.S. taxpayer funding of military aid for Israel. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.While Emanuel isn’t alone in his posture, he stands out because he positioned himself as a moderate in the party, leading to questions of whether other future candidates might follow on an issue that was once viewed as a popular stance among the party's far-left flank. Emanuel is also a longtime supporter of Israeli defense efforts, having been in the White House when the United States, under Obama, directed more than $1.3 billion into Israel’s Iron Dome defense system. But Emanuel, also a former Chicago mayor and U.S. ambassador to Japan, said U.S. taxpayers should no longer be footing the bill. Emanuel expressed the sentiment in a Friday appearance on “Real Time with Bill Maher," to audience applause. “No more U.S. military … financial assistance by the taxpayers for Israel. You’re a country, like all other allies of ours, Japan, South Korea, the Brits, the Germans. You’re going to pay full price. You can buy what you want, but you have to abide by the laws,” he said. “No more U.S. taxpayer support. It’s not where Israel was 20 years ago — and I was in the room when we — President Obama … largest assistance was under President Obama. We did the funding fo...