Anti-Israel protesters march through New York City carrying banners condemning Israeli actions in 2021. (Shutterstock)
New poll shows plunging support for Israel among Democrats and independents, both of whom now sympathize more with Palestinians than with Israelis.
By David Rosenberg, World Israel News
Just one in eight Democrats supports the State of Israel, a new poll shows, the latest sign of a widening partisan gap on the Jewish state.
On Monday, NBC News published the results of a poll conducted online and via telephone among 1,000 registered voters from February 27 through March 3.
The survey, which was begun before the launch of Israeli and American airstrikes on Iran, found a sharp drop in the percentage of Americans who view Israel favorably.
In November 2023, a month after the Hamas invasion of Israel, 47% of respondents said they had a positive view of the Jewish state, compared to 24% who said they viewed Israel negatively.
In the latest poll, just 32% said they had a positive view of Israel, while a plurality of 39% said they viewed Israel negatively.
The decline was sharpest among Democrats, with just 13% viewing Israel favorably in 2026, compared to 34% in 2023 – a 21-point drop.
Israel’s favorability rating among independents fell by 19 points during that period, from 40% in 2023 to 21% in 2026, while it declined by nine points among Republicans, from 63% to 54%.
An absolute majority of Democrats (57%) and a plurality of independents (48%) said they have a negative view of Israel, compared to just 18% of Republicans.
Americans now are almost as likely to say they have more sympathy for the Palestinians (39%) with regard to the Mideast situation as they are to say they have more sympathy for the Israelis (40%).
In 2013, just 13% said they sympathized more with Palestinians than with Israelis, compared to 45% who said they sympathized more with Israelis.
Just 17% of Democrats say they sympathize more with Israelis, compared to 67% who say they sympathize more with the Palestinians. In 2013, just 10% of Democrats said they sympathized more with the Palestinians.
Republicans were slightly more likely in the latest poll to say they sympathize more with Israelis over the Palestinians (69%) than they were in 2013, when 67% said they sympathized more with Israelis.
Voters under 35 are the least likely to support Israel, the poll showed, with just 13% saying they view Israel favorably, compared to 63% who said they view it negatively.
Support for Israel rose progressively by age, with the over-65 cohort having the highest favorability rating for Israel of 55%, compared to 21% who have a negative view.
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