US opinion of Israel lowest in two decades: Poll

News Desk - The Cradle

US young adults are much more critical of Israel than the nation's older population

A Gallup poll released on 4 March showed that the opinions of US citizens regarding both Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have worsened since the beginning of the Gaza war in October.  

“Fifty-eight percent of Americans, down from 68 [percent] last year, have a ‘very’ or ‘mostly favorable’ view of Israel,” Gallup’s report read. “This is the lowest favorable rating for Israel in over two decades. At the same time, positive opinions of the Palestinian Authority have dropped from 26 [percent] to 18 [percent], the lowest since 2015.” 

The pollster noted that US citizens have always had a more favorable view of Israel than the Palestinians but that young adults have shown to hold a less positive view of the US ally.  

“Young adults show the biggest decline in ratings of Israel, dropping from 64 [percent] favorable among 18- to 34-year-olds in 2023 to 38 [percent],” the report added. “Middle-aged adults (those aged 35 to 54) show a smaller but still significant drop, from 66 [percent] to 55 [percent], while there has been no meaningful change among adults aged 55 and older.” 

Gallup noted that the young adult population is much more likely to identify as politically independent than their older counterparts, and independents have shown the biggest change of opinion on Israel over the past year. Older US citizens are almost twice as likely to rate Israel positively than younger citizens, 71 percent to 38 percent respectfully.  

Independents tied with the Democrats for the largest decline in approval ratings of the PA. Gallup notes that Republicans overall were much more positive towards Israel and more negative toward the PA than either independents or Democrats.  

The bias among US citizens towards Israel was made clear when asked about sympathy for each group. The data show’s that 51 percent are sympathetic to Israel and 27 percent to the Palestinians. Four percent sympathize with both groups equally, ten percent do not have sympathy for either group, and eight percent are of no opinion.  

The data is similar to a poll conducted in 2023 which showed that 54 percent of US citizens were sympathetic to Israel and 31 percent to the Palestinians.  

Fifty-two percent of US citizens see the conflict between the Palestinian resistance and Israel as a critical threat to the US, up from 35 percent in a poll conducted two years ago.  

Another 38 percent of citizens hold the view that this current war in Gaza is a significant threat to vital US interests, while eight percent of those polled hold the opposite view.  

Despite their pro-Israel bias, US citizens remain almost equally divided when asked on whom the US should place more pressure on to bring the war to an end. Thirty nine percent said more pressure should be placed on Palestinians and 36 percent on Israelis.