US President Donald Trump at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington, D.C., February 4, 2025. (Liri Agami/Flash90)
New poll shows few Americans believe Trump is sincere about his Gaza relocation plan while a plurality of Israelis believe Trump’s plan could realistically be implemented.
By David Rosenberg, World Israel News
Americans and Israelis are deeply divided over President Donald Trump’s Gaza resettlement plan, with a wide gap between the two populations regarding perceptions of the proposal’s viability.
Last Tuesday, during a joint press conference in the White House with the president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump announced plans to permanently resettle the entire population of the Gaza Strip – officially listed by the Palestinian Authority at over 2.2 million, though some estimates place it as low as 1.7 million – to third-party countries.
The plan was panned by leaders across the Arab world, with the foreign ministries of five European powers also distancing themselves from the proposal.
The Israeli government, however, and a number of Republican lawmakers hailed the plan, with Prime Minister Netanyahu calling it the “first good idea” he has heard on the issue of the post-war handling of the Gaza Strip.
On Sunday, CBS News published a poll, conducted by YouGov, that surveyed 2,175 American adults from February 5th through the 7th, asking respondents about their views regarding Trump’s job performance and specific issues, including his Gaza plan.
A majority of 53% said they approve of his job performance thus far, and 59% back his program to deport large numbers of illegal immigrants from the U.S.
Even more (64%) said they support deploying troops to the border with Mexico to rein in illegal border crossings.
Fifty-four percent said they support Trump’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict, but just 13% said they think Trump’s plan to assume control over the Gaza Strip is a “good idea.”
Nearly half (47%) said it was a “bad idea,” while 40% were unsure.
In a separate poll, a plurality (47%) of Israelis said Trump’s Gaza plan is realistic, compared to (38%) who said it is not, with 15% expressing no opinion.
The poll, conducted by the Lazar Research Institute, found that respondents who said they voted for parties in the coalition government were far more likely to say Trump’s plan was realistic than voters who backed parties in the opposition. Among coalition voters, 78% said the plan could be implemented, while 58% of opposition voters said it could not.
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