Fewer than half of Americans sympathize more with Israelis than with Palestinians, according to a new Gallup poll, the lowest figure for Israelis since at least 2001.
The poll, published Thursday, found that 46% of respondents sympathize more with Israelis while 33% sympathize more with Palestinians.
The 13-point gap is also the smallest since at least 2001. That year, 51% of respondents sympathized more with Israelis, but only 16% sympathized more with Palestinians.
Sympathy for Israelis has dropped in the past few years, as Israel has been led by a hardline right-wing government and, since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, fought a war against the terror group in Gaza.
Thursday’s poll was taken in February, spanning the time when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington, D.C. and President Donald Trump proposed a US takeover of the Gaza Strip, which Netanyahu endorsed.
A decade ago, 62% of respondents sympathized more with Israelis, compared to 16% with the Palestinians. In 2022, the gap was 55% to 26%.
Among Democrats, the drop this year was even starker, with the Palestinians receiving more sympathy by a wide margin: Just 21% say they sympathize more with Israelis, while 59% sympathize more with Palestinians.
That’s a considerable shift from 2022, when Democrats’ sympathies were about even at 40% for Israelis vs. 38% for Palestinians. Last year, it was 43% for Palestinians vs. 38% for Israelis. Polls taken more than a decade ago show Democratic sympathies lying more with Israelis by wide margins.
Thursday’s number dovetails with a Gallup poll released in late February that found just 33% of Democrats have a favorable view of Israel, compared with 83% of Republicans.
This week’s poll found that Republican sympathies with Israelis have remained relatively steady, at 75% vs. 10% for Palestinians. Among independents, the Israeli-Palestinian split was 42% to 34%.
The poll also found that 55% of Americans, and majorities of Democrats and independents, support the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Among Republicans, support for a Palestinian state was at 41%.
The poll also found that just 40% of respondents approve of the way President Donald Trump is handling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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