Poll: 34.8% of US Democrats blame ‘Israel’ for latest aggression on Gaza

A recent survey has shown that 34 percent of US Democrats blame Israelis for the recent aggression on Gaza Strip last May, when ‘Israel’ killed at least 279 Palestinians, including 69 children and 40 women and injured 1,910 others.

According to the poll published by the University of Maryland, 3.7 percent of Republicans said Israelis were mostly to blame for the escalation while 59.1 of the Republicans said Palestinians were mostly to blame.

34.8 percent of the Democrats said Israelis were mostly to blame for the latest escalation while only 8.1 of them said Palestinians were mostly to blame.

The poll was conducted from 22 June to 21 July among 3,379 respondents.

The latest Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, which started on May 10 and ended with a ceasefire brokered by mediator Egypt on May 21, killed at least 279 Palestinians, including 69 children and 40 women and injured 1,910 others.

19 families in the Gaza Strip have been wiped off the population civil registry during Israel’s 11-day aggression, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, including 41 children and 25 women.

62 percent of the population of Gaza is food insecure, adding that unemployment was already at 48 percent and poverty rates above 50 percent before the escalation, according to a report published by Gaza Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA).

Asking if they support linking American arms supplies to the occupation state to Israel’s actions toward Palestinians, 36.3% of the Democrats said yes and 32.3% of the Republicans also said yes.

The majority of respondents – 62.7 percent – said America’s role in mediating the conflict should “lean toward neither side”.

Only 9.5 percent of Democrats said it should lean towards ‘Israel’, compared to 50.7 percent of Republicans.

A larger share of Democratic respondents, 17.9 percent, said US policy should lean towards Palestinians. The number drops to 2.5 percent amongst Republicans.

43.7 of the Democrats said that the U.S. must apply more pressure on ‘Israel’, including withholding aid while 6.3 of Republicans agreed on that.

Only 8.5 of Democrats and 49.0 of Republicans said the U.S. must apply more pressure on Palestine, including withholding aid.