Nearly six in 10 Americans hold a negative view of the Israeli government, according to a poll that the Pew Research Center released on Monday.
The survey also reveals sharp and growing divides between Republicans and Democrats about support for the Jewish state and the war against Hamas.
“70% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents view the Palestinian people favorably, compared with 37% of Republicans and GOP leaners,” Pew stated. “55% of Republicans view the Israeli government positively, compared with just 18% of Democrats.”
Opinions about the Israeli people and government have declined over the past year, with 59% of Americans holding an unfavorable view of Israeli leaders and 38% negative views about Israelis. Both are up eight percentage points from a year ago.
American opinion about Hamas and the Palestinian Authority has been more stable and remains overwhelmingly negative.
The Pew poll found that a plurality of American adults now say that the United States is providing too much military aid to Israel and not enough humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. Those opinions are most commonly held by young people.
“While 42% of adults 18 to 29 say the United States is providing too much military aid to Israel, this share drops to 24% among those 65 and older,” Pew said. “By comparison, those 65 and older are more than twice as likely as adults under 30 to say the United States is providing about the right amount of aid to Israel (34% vs. 13%).”
Among all Americans, 35% say that the United States is not providing enough aid to Palestinians in Gaza, versus 9% that says too much aid is being given, 20% that says “about the right amount” is provided and 35% that is unsure.
Most Democrats (58%) think that not enough aid is being given to Palestinian civilians, against just 13% of Republicans.
Conducted from Sept. 22 to 28, the Pew poll asked 3,445 adults for their views on the Israel-Hamas conflict. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points.
The result is the latest finding showing that support for Israel is increasingly a partisan issue that also divides younger and older Americans.
The poll found waning support for Israel’s war effort among the American public, with 39% now saying Israel is going too far in its military operations against Hamas, versus 31% that said the same thing a year ago and 27% that reported that view in late 2023.
That view also split largely along party lines, with 60% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents saying Israel is going too far, up from 45% that reported that view in December 2023.
Only 19% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents share that view, although the share that does so has increased by seven percentage points from 2023.
