Surprising percent of Americans back Hamas – poll

Among Democrats, Hamas and the Israeli government received nearly equal approval ratings, as majority of Americans turn against Netanyahu government.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

One in ten Americans has a favorable view of the Hamas terror organization, according to a new poll, as support for the Israeli government falls, particularly among young people and Democrats.

The poll was published on Friday by the Pew Research Center, which surveyed 3,445 American adults by telephone and the internet from September 22nd through the 28th.

A growing number of Americans think Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip against Hamas has gone too far, rising from 27% in December 2023 to 31% in September 2024 to 39% in the latest poll.

Just 10% of respondents said the operation is not going far enough, down from 16% in 2023, while the number who said the operation is taking the right approach fell from 25% in 2023 to 16% in 2025.

A plurality (42%) disapprove of President Donald Trump’s handling of the conflict, compared to just 30% who approve, while 27% had no opinion.

When asked whether the Trump administration is favoring the Israelis or the Palestinians too much, a plurality (38%) were not sure, with 36% saying the US favored Israel too much, while 23% said the administration was striking the right balance. Just two percent said the US is favoring the Palestinians too much.

One-third (33%) of respondents said the US is aiding Israel too much in the conflict, compared to 8% who said it is not aiding Israel enough.

More respondents (80%) expressed concern over claims of starvation in the Gaza Strip than the number who said they were concerned about Hamas attacking Israel in the future (73%) or who feared the prospect of Israeli hostages in Gaza not being returned to Israel (79%).

Most Americans, according to the poll, disapprove of the Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas, while narrow majorities have favorable views of both Palestinians and Israelis.

In total, 56% of respondents said they had a favorable view of Israelis, while 38% had an unfavorable view, compared to 52% who had a favorable view of Palestinians and 41% who had an unfavorable view.

One in ten Americans has a favorable view of the Hamas terror organization, while 84% have a negative view; compared to 24% who have a favorable view of the Palestinian Authority and 35% who have a favorable view of the Israeli government. More than two-thirds (68%) said they have an unfavorable view of the Palestinian Authority, compared to 59% who have an unfavorable view of the Israeli government.

The respondents were more likely to have a very unfavorable view of Israel’s government (30%) than the Palestinian Authority (27%).

Democrats were twice as likely as Republicans to have a favorable view of the Hamas terror organization, 14% compared to 7%.

Among Democrats, approval ratings for the Israeli government were only slightly higher than for Hamas, at 18% compared to 14%.

Most Republicans (55%) approved of the Israeli government and the Israeli people (67%), while disapproving of the Palestinian people (59%) and the Palestinian Authority (82%).

Democrats were more than twice as likely to approve of the Palestinian Authority (37%) as they were to approve of the Israeli government (18%), and were more likely to have a favorable view of Palestinians (70%) than of Israelis (48%).