Poll: More Democrats support cutting aid to ‘Israel’

United States (QNN)- New poll by the progressive organization Data for Progress shows that a plurality of US voters support reducing military aid to Israel based on its violations of Palestinian human rights.

When asked if they support or oppose the US government reducing foreign and military aid to Israel based on human rights violations, 45% of the voters supported reducing aid while 34% opposed it.

Meanwhile, The margin of support for reducing aid to governments that engage in human rights violations in general is even higher, at 49%: 61% of voters support it, while 12% oppose.

Respondents who self-identified as Democrats support reducing military aid to human rights abusers in general at a rate of 64% in favor versus 11% opposed, meaning that a net majority of Democratic voters, 53%, support the policy of reducing military aid to governments engaged in violations of human rights.

Respondents who reported voting for a Democratic congressional candidate in 2018 answered the questions with a similar degree of consistency and slightly higher levels of support: 66% support reducing aid to human rights abusers and 11% oppose it; 67% support reducing aid to Israel on the basis of human rights and 10% oppose it.

The Data for Progress report includes detailed profiles of the records of the five leading contenders in the Democratic presidential primary field with regard to Israel. Of these five, only Bernie Sanders has endorsed the possibility of using US aid to Israel as leverage toward a negotiated solution with the Palestinians.

On the other hand, Republican voters showed less rate regarding support reducing US military aid to human rights abusers in general.

The policy has the support of a net 40% of self-identified Republicans: 56% of these voters support reducing US military aid to human rights abusers, and 16% oppose it. Respondents who report voting for a Republican candidate in 2018 support the policy at a net rate of 43%, with 57% supporting versus 14% opposing.

The rates sharply changed when the question was on Israel. Self-identified Republicans oppose reducing military aid to Israel for human rights reasons by a 45% margin: 19% of Republican voters support the policy, while 64% oppose it. Respondents who report voting for a Republican candidate last year oppose the policy by an even larger margin: while 18% of these voters support the policy, 68% oppose it—a net support level of negative 50%.