A Gallup poll, released for the first time on Friday, shows that Americans sympathize more with Palestinians than with Israel, following the devastating war in Gaza. While opinions on the Middle East are sharply divided along party lines, this shift over the past year is attributed to growing discontent with Israel among independents. The poll revealed that 41% of Americans sympathize with Palestinians, while 36% support Israel, with the remaining undecided or stating they support both or neither. Although this gap is not statistically significant, it marks the first time in over two decades that Gallup has asked this question and Israel does not lead in public opinion. It also indicates a stark difference from last year, when support for Israel stood at 46% compared to 33% for Palestinians. When asked about their sympathies, independents declared support for the Palestinian people by an 11-point margin. Members of the Republican Party, to which President Donald Trump belongs, continued their strong support for Israel, which was approved by 70% of them, although this percentage has decreased by 10 points over the past decade. Democrats' view of Israel has become more negative over the past decade, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly contradicted then-US President Barack Obama's policy toward Iran. Since then, Israel has shifted sharply to the right. Some Democratic voters criticized former President Joe Biden for not doing more to rein in Israel during its devastating war on Gaza following the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. In the latest poll, 65% of Democrats sympathized with Palestinians, while 17% sympathized with Israel. Gallup conducted the poll by phone with 1001 Americans between February 2 and 16.
