Poll: Israelis are biggest supporters of US, Palestinians its strongest critics

96% of Israeli Jews have favorable view of the United States, by far the highest level of any population in the world.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Israelis have the most favorable view of the US of any public surveyed, while Palestinians have the least favorable view, according to a new Pew Research Center poll showing a sharp global decline in attitudes toward Washington during President Donald Trump’s second term.

The survey, released on Tuesday, found that 81% of Israelis view the US favorably, the highest figure among the 36 countries and territories polled.

The Israeli figure was driven overwhelmingly by Jewish Israelis. Pew found that 96% of Jewish Israelis had a favorable view of the US, compared with 19% of Arab Israelis.

Pew said the Arab Israeli figure was a record low in its polling.

At the opposite end, just 9% of Palestinians in Judea, Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem said they view the US favorably, the lowest rating in the survey.

Eighty-one percent of Palestinians surveyed said they view the US unfavorably.

Pew said it was unable to survey Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Across all 36 publics surveyed, a median of 37% said they had a favorable view of the US, while 57% said they had an unfavorable view. Israel was one of only seven countries or territories where more than half the public viewed the US favorably.

The survey also showed Israelis far more supportive than most other publics of Trump’s foreign policy, while Palestinians were among the most opposed.

On Iran, 73% of Israelis approved of Trump’s handling of the issue, making Israel the only surveyed country where a clear majority backed his approach. Among Palestinians, only 5% approved.

On the administration’s handling of the Gaza Strip, no surveyed country gave Trump majority approval. Israelis were evenly divided, with 48% approving and 48% disapproving of his handling of the conflict. Among Palestinians, only 3% approved.

The divide was also evident inside Israel. Pew found that 57% of Jewish Israelis approved of Trump’s handling of the Gaza war, compared with 14% of Arab Israelis.

Israelis were also among the most likely to say the US contributes to peace and stability around the world. Seventy-three percent of Israelis said the US contributes a great deal or a fair amount to global peace and stability. Just 14% of Palestinians agreed.

On the question of whether the US takes other countries’ interests into account when making foreign policy decisions, 68% of Israelis said it does. Pew said majorities in only five countries — the Philippines, Kenya, Israel, Nigeria and Sri Lanka — held that view.

The broader international picture was far more negative.

Pew found that favorable views of the US had declined significantly in 15 of the 24 countries where it had comparable data from last year. The center also found that a median of 23% across the 36 publics expressed confidence in Trump to do the right thing in world affairs.

The report also found that perceptions of the US as a reliable partner have fallen sharply since 2022, during former President Joe Biden’s administration. In Canada, for example, 83% described the US as a reliable partner in 2022, compared with 35% in the new survey.

The Pew poll was conducted between Feb. 8 and May 13, surveying 42,151 adults in 36 countries and territories.