The Hamas terror organization has a higher overall favorability rating (19%) and lower unfavorable rating (45%) than does the Israeli government (18%, 56%) on U.S. campuses, according to a new survey of 500 university students.
That difference in favorability ratings is not statistically significant, because it falls in the margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points, according to Carly Cooperman, partner and CEO of Schoen Cooperman Research, which conducted the survey for the Israel on Campus Coalition between Oct. 15 and 21.
But the 11 percentage-point difference, a roughly 25% increase in the Israeli government’s unfavorability rating compared to that of Hamas among college students, is significant, according to Cooperman.
She told JNS that the survey suggests that American students are hostile toward Hamas to “a lesser degree” than they are toward Israel, and they are likelier to be unfamiliar with or to have no opinion about the terror organization.
The “steep” drop of 24 percentage points in Israel’s favorability among students since Oct. 7, 2023 “speaks to the deep-seeded belief that Israel has used excessive force,” Cooperman told JNS.
“While they largely supported Israel’s original goals in Gaza, they broadly opposed Israel’s conduct there, and so, their perceptions of Israel declined significantly,” she said.
Students on U.S. colleges have universities have become “profoundly hostile to anyone who is Jewish or pro-Israel” since Oct. 7, according to Jacob Baime, CEO of the coalition. The survey found that 54% of students say that Jew-hatred increased on campus since the Hamas attacks in southern Israel, Baime stated.
More than half (55%) of respondents support anti-Israel protests on campus, compared to 26% who oppose, according to the survey. Close to half (45%) said that continuing protests after the ceasefire agreement proves that agitators are antisemitic, while 29% said that the protests are “legitimate and should continue.”
More than double the number of respondents views Israeli actions in Gaza after Oct. 7 as war crimes (54%) than the number that does not (25%). Some 42% blamed the Jewish state and the Hamas terror organization equally for what they said was a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. About 31% blamed Israel solely, and 12% blamed Hamas alone.
Cooperman stated that college students’ “deeply negative views of Israel” have “strongly impacted sentiments on campuses, as a majority are concerned about rising antisemitism due to the war.”
Per the survey, 46% of students said that Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state, while 28% disagreed, and 49% support petitions calling on the universities to divest from Israel, while 31% opposed that.
