Another poll shows Americans’ declining support for Israel

The percentage of registered American voters who believe that support for Israel serves the U.S. national interest has fallen sharply over the last 21 months of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, according to the findings of a new survey released by the Quinnipiac University Poll.

Less than half of American voters — 47% — say they believe that support for Israel is in the national interest of the United States, according to the survey, which was based on the responses of 1,276 self-identified registered voters September 18–21.

That was down from 69% in December 2023, three-and-a-half months after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that launched the war.

Forty-one percent of the survey’s respondents said they believed U.S. support for Israel does not serve the national interest. The remainder offered no opinion.

Opinions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were even more negative. Only 21% of respondents said they had a favorable opinion of Netanyahu, who is scheduled to address the U.N. General Assembly Friday. Nearly half — 49% — said they held an unfavorable view of the Israeli leader, while 31% either refused to answer (3%) or hadn’t hear enough to offer an opinion (28%).

The survey also found nearly as strong disapproval of “the way (President) Donald Trump is handling the Israel-Hamas conflict.” Only 31% of respondents said they approved of his handling of the war, which has been characterized by virtually unconditional U.S. support for Netanyahu. A solid majority of respondents (56%) said they disapproved.

In a survey released August 27, a separate Quinnipiac poll found that no less than 50% of respondents, including one of five self-identified Republican voters, said they believed that Israel was committing a genocide in Gaza.

Meanwhile, significantly more voters, according to the latest survey, believe that supporting Ukraine serves U.S. national interests than those who believe that supporting Israel does. Nearly two in three voters (64%), including 50% of self-identified Republicans, said they believe that supporting Ukraine serves U.S. interests, while only one if four (26%) said they believe U.S. support for Kyiv did not serve the national interest.

One in three respondents (33%), and only 3% of self-identified Democrats, said they approved of Trump’s handling of the Russia-Ukraine war, while 56%, including 14% of Republicans, voiced disapproval.

The poll’s findings on Israel are consistent with other recent surveys that show unprecedented declines in support for Israel.

A poll released last month by the University of Maryland’s Critical Issues series found for the first time in a national poll that more Americans sympathized with Palestinians (28%) than with Israelis (22%). It also found that 41% of its respondents believed that Israel was committing a genocide or a campaign “akin to genocide” in Gaza.

A Gallup poll released in late July found that public support for Israel’s actions in Gaza had fallen from 50% to 32% over 17 months. It found that support for Israel had hemorrhaged among younger voters, Democrats and self-identified Independents.

The latest Quinnipiac poll found significant differences in views about support for Israel serving U.S. national interests. Three of every four self-identified Republicans said they believe that support for Israel serves U.S. interests, while only 36% of Democrats and 37% of Independents agreed.

Remarkably, more Independents (53%) than Democrats (49%) said they believed support for Israel did not serve U.S. national interests. Nearly one in five Republicans (19%) agreed.

Republicans were also significantly disposed to view Netanyahu favorably (47%), while only 4% of Democrats and 14% agreed. Seven out of ten Democrats (70%) and nearly six of ten (58%) of Independents said they viewed him unfavorably as did one in five (20%) of Republicans.