US public increasingly critical of Israel, with 59% opposed to government — poll

Nearly six in 10 Americans hold an unfavorable view of the Israeli government, according to a Friday poll, as a series of surveys finds that the US public is increasingly hostile to Israel after two years of the war against Hamas in Gaza.

The Pew Research Center poll found that Americans have become increasingly critical of Israel since the start of the war on October 7, 2023.

The survey said that 39 percent of Americans believe Israel is “going too far” in its military operation against Hamas, compared to 31% who held the same view in September 2024, and 27% in December 2023.

Sixteen percent of Americans said Israel was taking the right approach to the conflict, and 10% said it wasn’t going far enough, while the remainder wasn’t sure.

The poll found that 59% of respondents held an unfavorable view of the Israeli government, an eight-point increase over early 2024.

A plurality of 42% disapproved of the Trump administration’s handling of the conflict, while 30% approved, and the remainder wasn’t sure.

There was also an increase in respondents who said US President Donald Trump was favoring the Israelis too much, from 31% in March to 36% in the latest poll. Only 2% said Trump was favoring the Palestinians too much.

One-third said the US was providing too much military support to Israel, while 23% said it was providing the right amount and 8% said not enough. Respondents’ views of US aid to Palestinian civilians were the opposite — 9% said the US was providing too much, 20% said the right amount, and 35% said not enough.

The US public reported broad concerns about the war’s impact on Palestinians. Around eight in 10 were concerned about starvation in Gaza and Israeli military strikes killing Palestinian civilians, and 69% were concerned about the Israeli military forcing Palestinians to leave Gaza.

Eight in 10 were also concerned about the remaining Israeli hostages not being returned, and 73% were concerned about Hamas attacking Israel again.

Democrats were more likely than Republicans to express concern about the impact on Palestinians, and Republicans were more likely to worry about Hamas attacking Israel in the future. Both parties were equally concerned about the hostages.

The US public was largely hostile to Hamas, with 84% viewing the terrorist group unfavorably, and 68% holding an unfavorable view of the Palestinian Authority.

Americans viewed the Israeli people in a slightly better light than the Palestinian people, with 56% viewing Israelis favorably, compared to 52% for the Palestinians.

The perception of Israelis has declined by 8 percentage points since last year, and 11 points since 2022.

Views of Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people have remained steady over the past year and a half.

In line with other surveys, there were wide gaps between the parties, with Republicans viewing Israel more favorably than Democrats.

For Democrats and Democratic-leaning Independents, 70% view the Palestinians favorably, compared to 37% of Republicans and Independents who lean toward the Republican party.

Only 18% of Democrats view the Israeli government favorably, compared to 55% of Republicans.

Democrats were split on their views of the Israeli people, with 48% holding an unfavorable and favorable view, while two-thirds of Republicans hold a favorable opinion of Israelis.

Also in line with other polls, younger Americans were more opposed to military aid to Israel, with 42% of 18-29-year-olds saying the US provided too much, compared to 24% of those over 65.

The survey polled 3,445 respondents from September 22-28, before the Trump administration announced its peace proposal for the Gaza war, and had a sampling error of 1.9 percentage points.