A new Associated Press-NORC poll finds that support for Israel is in decline among Americans, particularly among Democrats.
The poll surveyed 3,040 U.S. adults from June 11-17. It found the sharpest decline was among Democrats, but also division among Republicans on the topic. The decline comes after years of war between Israel and the Palestinians living in Gaza.
Israel was attacked on October 7, 2023, by Hamas. According to the U.S. State Department, 1,200 people were murdered in the attack. Also, Hamas took 253 Israeli and foreign citizens hostage.
Following the October 7 attack, Israel launched an assault on Gaza with the stated goal of destroying Hamas and retrieving the hostages. The resulting war devastated Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, has claimed that 73,000 people have been killed in the war, but that figure does not differentiate between combatants and civilians, PBS News reported. Hostilities have continued intermittently despite repeated announcements of ceasefires.
Critics of Israel have said its actions amount to committing genocide in Gaza, an accusation that Israel has vehemently denied. Regardless, the actions in Gaza have caused support for Israel to erode, according to the AP poll, to lose public support.
The poll found that a third of U.S. adults, including nearly half of Democrats, believed Israel had committed genocide. About 20 percent did not think the Gaza war amounted to genocide, and the remainder were undecided.
The poll included 1,022 Jewish adults. Among them, 30 percent stated Israel committed genocide and 49 percent said it had not.
Overall, most Democrats now believe that the U.S. is too supportive of Israel and not supportive enough of Palestinians. The poll found that 58 percent said the U.S. was "too supportive" of Israel, up from 45 percent during the Biden administration.
The poll also found more support for Israel among Republicans. Only 13 percent of Republicans described Israel's actions as a genocide. Also, a majority of Republicans - 60 percent - said that U.S. support for Israel was "about right."
