Americans overwhelmingly support Israel’s right to defend itself, poll finds

Among the 400 college students surveyed, 75 percent said they experienced, witnessed, or heard about anti-Semitic incidents on their campus, while 76 percent said they viewed it as a serious problem.

By Jessica Costescu, The Washington Free Beacon

An overwhelming majority of Americans support Israel’s right to defend itself, according to a poll released Thursday.

The poll, conducted by the Israel on Campus Coalition in partnership with Schoen Cooperman Research, reveals a resounding endorsement of Israel’s position among Americans.

Of the 1,000 U.S. adults surveyed, 81 percent affirmed Israel’s right to defend itself—an 11 percent increase compared to a poll the two groups conducted last month.

Thursday’s survey also identified an even sharper increase: 82 percent of Americans believe a final ceasefire agreement in the Gaza conflict should remove Hamas from power, up from 57 percent last month.

“These findings demonstrate unwavering public support for Israel and deep concern about the alarming rise of antisemitism, especially on college campuses,” said Israel on Campus Coalition CEO Jacob Baime.

While solidarity with Israel remains robust, the poll also highlighted the sharp increase in anti-Semitism present in America’s colleges and universities. Since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Israeli civilians, reports of anti-Semitism in higher education skyrocketed.

Among the 400 college students surveyed, 75 percent said they experienced, witnessed, or heard about anti-Semitic incidents on their campus, while 76 percent said they viewed it as a serious problem.

Those findings were similar among the 250 Jewish college students polled. Of them, 74 percent see anti-Semitism as a serious problem on their campus, with 81 percent having either experienced it personally (30 percent), witnessed it firsthand (29 percent), or heard about anti-Semitic incidents (22 percent).

The anti-Israel protests and Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions petitions that have spread on college campuses since the Oct. 7 attack have resonated with Jewish students. Nearly 90 percent worry that those activities are fueling hate crimes and violence against Jewish students.

President Donald Trump pledged to target campus anti-Semitism during his 2024 election campaign and has started to make good on that promise. Universities have already taken measures in response.

Just one week into his term, Trump signed an executive order announcing that the federal government would “combat anti-Semitism vigorously, using all available and appropriate legal tools, to prosecute, remove, or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence.”

Trump’s Department of Education, meanwhile, opened investigations into “widespread antisemitic harassment” at Columbia University and four other schools in the wake of Oct. 7 and scrapped $15 million in federal grants for diversity programs at three other universities.

The Department of Justice launched a task force “to root out anti-Semitic harassment in schools and college campuses.”

Still, the Israel-Hamas war looms large for college students, ranking as their second-most important issue (27 percent), trailing only costs and inflation (43 percent). For Jewish students, it’s the top priority (40 percent). Ninety-one percent of college students say the conflict is important to them personally.