A First: Americans back Palestinians over Israel – poll

For the first time in the history of the NYT poll, more Americans back the Palestinians over Israel, even as Republican support for the Jewish state remains strong.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News Staff

A plurality of Americans now back the Palestinians over Israel, according to a new poll, marking a major reversal in US opinions on the Middle East.

On Monday, The New York Times published a nationwide poll surveying American views of the Gaza war and the Jewish state by age cohort, race, and political affiliation.

The poll was conducted with Siena University September 22 to 27 and surveyed 1,313 self-described registered voters by telephone via live interviews and text messages. The sample included 47% of self-identified Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters, compared with 46% of Republicans and Republican leaners.

When asked with whom they sympathize most strongly, a narrow plurality (35%) of respondents said they backed the Palestinians over Israel, compared to 34% who said they sympathized more with Israel, while 19% said they sympathized with each equally and 12% had no opinion.

Support for Israel was highest among Republicans, Trump voters, older respondents, people without college degrees, men, and non-Hispanic whites, while Democrats, Harris voters, respondents under 30, women, and Black and Hispanic Americans were most likely to be critical of Israel and sympathetic toward the Palestinians.

Americans oppose providing additional aid to Israel by a double-digit margin, 51% to 39%, though Trump voters back additional aid by a wide margin, 68% to 25%.

A similar partisan divide was reported on sympathy for Israel versus for the Palestinians, with 63% of Trump voters expressing greater sympathy for Israel and just 10% who felt more sympathy for the Palestinians, compared to 60% of Harris voters who said they were more sympathetic to the Palestinians and just 12% who had more sympathy for Israel.

Non-Hispanic whites sympathized more with Israel than with the Palestinians, 40% to 33%, while Blacks, Hispanics and those in the “other” category all tended to sympathize more with Palestinians. Hispanics were the most likely to sympathize with the Palestinians over Israel, 46% to 20%, followed by Blacks at 41% to 20%, and those in the “other” category, 36% to 29%.

Broken down by age, registered voters under 30 were more than three times more likely to sympathize with the Palestinians than with Israel, 61% to 19%, while respondents over 65 sympathized with Israel over the Palestinians by a margin of 47% to 26%.

Wide majorities of Americans said Israel should immediately halt the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, even though 48 hostages have not yet been returned and the Hamas terror organization has not been fully eliminated.

Just 30% of respondents said Israel should continue its war until all the hostages are returned, and only 27% said Israel should continue the war until Hamas has been eliminated.

Majorities of Trump voters backed Israel continuing hostilities in Gaza in both instances.

Forty percent of respondents said they believe Israel is intentionally killing civilians in the Gaza Strip, and 62% said Israel is not taking enough precautions to avoid civilian casualties.