Support for Palestinians Growing Among Americans: Gallup Poll
Washington (Quds News Network)- A recent Gallup survey reveals that support for Israel among Americans is at its lowest in 25 years, with less than half of Americans now backing Israel. Meanwhile, support for Palestinians is growing.
According to the poll, conducted Feb. 3-16, 46% of Americans express support for Israel, the lowest in 25 years of Gallup’s annual tracking of this measure on its World Affairs survey. The previous 51% low point in this trend of Americans’ sympathy for Israelis was recorded both last year and in 2001.
At the same time, the 33% of U.S. adults who now say they sympathize with the Palestinians is up six percentage points from last year and the highest reading by two points.
The poll was conducted as the ceasefire and prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas that started on January 19 continued. The poll began one day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s White House visit that included a joint press conference with President Donald Trump. During that press event on Feb. 4, Trump expressed his intent for the U.S. to own the Gaza Strip and turn it into a “Middle East Riviera”.
The poll also finds that Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to view Israel favorably (83% vs. 33%, respectively), while Democrats view the Palestinian Territories more favorably than Republicans do (45% vs. 18%).
Republicans broadly sympathize with the Israelis (75%) over the Palestinians (10%), while Democrats sympathize with the Palestinians over the Israelis by a nearly 3-to-1 ratio (59% vs. 21%). Independents’ sympathies are similar to the national averages, according to the poll.
In February 2023, Democrats’ sympathies for the Israelis dipped to 38%, while the reading for Palestinians jumped 11 points to 49%, marking the first time Palestinian sympathies prevailed among this group.
Currently, 55% are in favor of the two-state solution and 31% opposed, while 14% do not have an opinion.
The latest 55% of U.S. adults who favor establishing a Palestinian state are in line with readings since 2020, which have ranged from 52% to 55%. Before that, Americans were still more in favor of an independent Palestinian state than opposed, but support was mostly below the majority level. Support and opposition were most similar to each other in 2015 and 2017.
About three-quarters of Democrats, 76%, are in favor of such a state, compared with 53% of independents. While 41% of Republicans support a Palestinian state, 49% are opposed.
Democrats’ support for a Palestinian state has been trending upward since 2021, whereas independents’ has been relatively steady over the same period. Republicans’ support is up 15 points after dropping sharply last year.
