- Roughly six in 10 voters now say Israel should bring its military operation to an end, even if Hamas is not defeated and hostages are not freed.
- Nearly two years into the war in Gaza, voters from across the political spectrum are voicing increasingly negative views of Israel’s military campaign and rethinking their sympathies in the conflict.
By Vanguard Staff
American voters have turned sharply against Israel’s war in Gaza, with a majority now opposing additional U.S. economic and military aid and, for the first time in decades, more siding with Palestinians than Israelis, according to a New York Times/Siena University poll.
Nearly two years into the war in Gaza, voters from across the political spectrum are voicing increasingly negative views of Israel’s military campaign and rethinking their sympathies in the conflict, according to a New York Times/Siena University poll.
In the days after the Hamas-led assault in 2023, voters overwhelmingly leaned toward Israel, with 47 percent siding with Israel and 20 percent with Palestinians. The new survey shows those numbers have flipped: 34 percent say they sympathize more with Israel, 35 percent with Palestinians, and 31 percent remain unsure or say they sympathize with both equally.
Roughly six in 10 voters now say Israel should bring its military operation to an end, even if Hamas is not defeated and hostages are not freed. Forty percent believe Israel is deliberately targeting civilians in Gaza, nearly twice the share who said the same in 2023.
The results reflect a major erosion of support for Israel, which has long enjoyed strong bipartisan backing in Washington. Such a rapid and sweeping shift in public opinion is rare in an era of entrenched political polarization, where views typically change only gradually unless spurred by events of extraordinary scale, such as war.
For many Americans, the drawn-out conflict has prompted a reassessment of deeply held positions.
“I actually was pretty pro-Israel the last few years, especially hearing about the devastating terrorist night of Oct. 7,” said Austin Mugleston, 33, a Democrat from Blackfoot, Idaho, who works in communications and was interviewed by the NY Times. “Nobody should go through that. But for how long it’s taking and from how much worse Israel is doing to Palestinians, it just doesn’t feel like a level playing field anymore.”
The survey shows a dramatic realignment among Democrats. Two years ago, the party was nearly split, with 34 percent expressing more sympathy for Israel and 31 percent for Palestinians. Now, 54 percent say they side with Palestinians, while just 13 percent side with Israel.
More than 80 percent of Democrats believe Israel should end the war even without meeting its stated objectives, up from about 60 percent in 2023. Nearly six in 10 also say Israel is deliberately killing civilians in Gaza, twice the share who held that view two years earlier.
For many Democrats, the Israeli response is disproportionate.
“As a mother, seeing those children is horrifying,” said Shannon Carey, 39, a Democrat from suburban Hartford, Connecticut. She described the Israeli government’s response as “unreasonable” and added, “This isn’t a war. It’s a genocide.”
One of the most striking changes has come from older, white, college-educated Democrats, a group that has formed the backbone of the party in recent elections.
In 2023, Democrats 45 and older sided with Israel over Palestinians by a two-to-one margin.
That pattern has now reversed, with 42 percent expressing greater sympathy for Palestinians and just 17 percent for Israel. Nonwhite Democrats, who were already more sympathetic to Palestinians at the start of the conflict, have shown a smaller shift by comparison.
For some longtime supporters of U.S. involvement in the region, the change has been difficult.
“Why do we keep funding this?” said Patti West, 67, a retiree from Central Florida. “This has been going since I was kid, and it’s still going on. They are going to hate each other forever.”
Republican voters, by contrast, remain broadly supportive of Israel, though there has been a modest decline.
Seven in 10 Republicans back providing additional U.S. aid, and a majority said Israel should continue its military campaign until all hostages are released, even if that means civilian casualties.
Forty-seven percent of Republicans said Israel is taking enough precautions to prevent civilian deaths, but about a third said Israel is not doing enough. Support for Israel among Republicans fell 12 percentage points since 2023, from 76 percent to 64 percent.
Some Republican voters expressed continued support for Israel but questioned the scale of U.S. involvement.
“The Israelis can pretty much fend for themselves and take care of it, but we have to make sure no one comes up on them,” said Edward Johnson, 51, a conservative from Minneapolis. Mason Northrup, 29, a Trump supporter from St. Louis, added, “He needs to back off a little bit because the Israelis are capable of pulling off some pretty crazy stuff. We should let them fight their own war.”
For decades, the United States has been Israel’s closest ally, offering steadfast political support and providing more foreign aid than to any other nation since 1948. That aid, totaling hundreds of billions of dollars, has long anchored Israel’s position as a central focus of American foreign policy.
Now, new polling underscores a deep generational divide. Nearly seven in 10 voters under 30 oppose additional U.S. economic or military aid to Israel, a sharp break from historical trends of support. This shift among younger Americans could reshape the trajectory of U.S. policy toward the region in the years ahead.
The survey, conducted in English and Spanish by telephone and text message from Sept. 22 to Sept. 27, included 1,313 registered voters nationwide. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
The findings suggest a potentially profound change in the U.S.-Israel relationship, with public opinion emerging as a growing constraint on leaders who have long maintained nearly automatic support.
Republicans remain largely steadfast in their backing, but the sharp decline among Democrats — particularly older, college-educated whites — signals a break in one of the most enduring and stable foreign policy alignments in American politics.
” . . . than Israelis, according to a New York Times/Siena University poll.”
” . . . in the conflict, according to a New York Times/Siena University poll.”
Was this according to a New York Times/Siena University poll?
“This has been going since I was kid, and it’s still going on. They are going to hate each other forever.”
Let’s hope not. And, only since you were a kid?
“She described the Israeli government’s response as “unreasonable””
What is reasonable?
“The results reflect a major erosion of support for Israel, which has long enjoyed strong bipartisan backing in Washington. Such a rapid and sweeping shift in public opinion is rare in an era of entrenched political polarization, where views typically change only gradually unless spurred by events of extraordinary scale, such as war.”
Such as war fed in bite sized chunks on TikTok.
“For many Americans, the drawn-out conflict has prompted a reassessment of deeply held positions.”
The drawn-out conflict as seen on TikTok. Imagine the firebombings of Dresden, etc on TikTok, the atomic bomb drop live from a Hiroshima web-cam.
“This isn’t a war. It’s a genocide.”
You say potato, I say potaatoe. Doesn’t change what is happening, which certainly is a war, but good job on getting Hamas’ speaking points out. One thing this is not is 1000 miles from is the way the Jews were systematically slaughtered in Eastern Europe during WWII.
“Roughly six in 10 voters now say Israel should bring its military operation to an end, even if Hamas is not defeated and hostages are not freed.”
So, right before Hamas may finally be beaten to the point they don’t have negotiating power, that’s the time to stop the war? What the heck kind of logic is that? The military goals were to de-militarize Hamas and release of the hostages. How does one do that without the destruction of Hamas? Negotiate? Pu-leeeeez. To stop now would render meaningless all who lost their lives during the war up to now. I am not defending all that has taken place, but to stop a war just short of the goals may be achievable is quite insane.
“Nearly six in 10 also say Israel is deliberately killing civilians in Gaza, twice the share who held that view two years earlier.”
Have there been some war crimes? I’m sure there has — I doubt there is a war without them. But ‘deliberately killing civilians’ as government policy? That’s a political belief, like wearing a mask because you don’t like Trump — makes about as much sense. Israel is targeting Hamas, and it’s urban warfare, and Hamas has tunnels to escape the war while civilians do not. If Israel wanted to genocide Gaza, everyone would have been dead by October 15th.
“This shift among younger Americans could reshape the trajectory of U.S. policy toward the region in the years ahead.”
Yes it could.
Hamas has quite effective PR. Israel’s PR machine the last two years has sucked. Hamas has built-in US tools: the antizionist Jews like the Neturei Karta far right-wing orthodox Jews, and ultra-liberal Davis antizionist Jews. Talk about horseshoe theory gone amok!