Students protest against the war in Gaza and in support of Israel on the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel at Columbia University in New York, New York, on Monday, October 7, 2024. One year ago today Hamas breached the wall containing Gaza and attacked Israeli towns and military installations, killing around 1200 Israelis and taking 250 hostages, and sparking a war that has over the last year killed over 40,000 Palestinians and now spilled over into Lebanon. Photographer: Victor J. Blue for The Washington Post via Getty Images
(JTA) — A new study has found that most Americans don’t want the United States to conquer Gaza, a policy that President Donald Trump first proposed in February.
It also found that Americans across age groups and party lines feel less favorably toward Israel than they did before Oct. 7, 2023, and that views of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are divided along partisan lines.
The survey by the Pew Research Center found that 62% of Americans oppose Trump’s oft-repeated proposal that the United States should take over Gaza — including 49% who strongly oppose the idea — while 15% support it. In the president’s own party, 44% oppose the idea and 27% support it.
But 46% of Americans say it is somewhat or very likely that Trump will pursue the policy. The poll was published Tuesday and conducted prior to Trump’s meeting this week with Netanyahu, when he again floated the policy.
In addition, the survey found that 53% of Americans overall have an unfavorable view of Israel, compared to 42% in 2022. Favorable views have fallen in a range of demographics:
- 37% of Republicans view Israel unfavorably, compared to 27% in 2022.
- 69% of Democrats view Israel unfavorably, compared to 53% in 2022.
- Young people in both parties have relatively high unfavorables toward Israel: 50% of Republicans under 49, and 71% of Democrats in that age group, view Israel unfavorably.
The only U.S. religious groups that have a majority favorable view toward Israel are Jews (at 73%) and Protestants (at 57%), according to the survey. In particular, 72% of white evangelicals view Israel favorably. Catholics are split at 53% unfavorable and 45% favorable. Among Muslims, 81% have an unfavorable view of Israel.
The results dovetail with a Gallup poll published in February that also found declining favorability toward Israel among Americans.
The Pew survey also found that Republicans and Democrats are split on Netanyahu: 51% of Republicans are confident that he will do the right thing, compared with 15% of Democrats. Overall, just 32% of Americans say they have confidence in him.
Among American Jews, 53% do not have confidence in Netanyahu and 45% do. The only U.S. religious group to demonstrate confidence in Netanyahu is white evangelical Protestants.
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