Republican and Democrat views on Israel-Hamas conflict, WSJ poll
Israeli soldiers take positions near the Gaza Strip border, in southern Israel on Monday, Dec. 11, 2023. The army is battling Palestinian militants across Gaza in the war ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel.
Ohad Zwigenberg, Associated Press
As the Israel-Hamas war approaches 21⁄2 months since Hamas first launched attacks on Oct. 7, Americans’ opinions on the conflict have become more partisan and age-relative.
Recent polls by The Wall Street Journal and Pew Research show Democrats are much more likely to be critical of the Israeli government amid the conflict with Hamas than Republicans, who are most likely to say Israel is taking the right approach.
Republicans tend to sympathize with Israelis, while Democrats tend to sympathize with Palestinians
On the whole, The Wall Street Journal report that 42% of Americans sympathize more with Israelis than Palestinians, but these numbers vary significantly between parties. Only 2% of Republicans sympathize more with Palestinians in the conflict, while 69% of Republicans sympathize more with Israelis.
On the other hand, Pew Research data shows nearly half of Democrats are likely to say they sympathize with both groups equally, but are more likely to sympathize with Palestinians than Israelis, 24% to 17%, respectively.
Republicans and Democrats agree that Hamas has “a lot” of the responsibility in the current conflict, but disagree on the level of responsibility across different groups.
Half of Democrats and a fifth of Republicans polled say the Israeli government has “a lot” of responsibility for Israel and Hamas currently being at war. And while 29% of Republicans responded that Palestinians have “a lot of responsibility” in the conflict, the number was significantly lower among Democrats, at 12%. Another 16% of Democrats and 10% of Republicans faulted Israelis for the conflict.
Younger adults are most likely to say Israel is going too far against Hamas
Age influences views on the conflict as well. Pew Research show Republican adults age 65+ are the most likely to say Israel isn’t going far enough in their military operation against Hamas at 34%. This group was the least likely to respond to the question with, “Not sure.”
Meanwhile, Democrats ages 18 to 34 were the most likely to say Israel is going too far against Hamas at 56%. Nearly half of Republicans ages 18 to 34 responded that they weren’t sure if Israel was going too far in their military operations.
Wall Street Journal data showed these trends without political party division. On the whole, 22% of Americans believe the U.S. is doing “too much” to support the Israeli people, and 25% think the government is doing “too little.”
Divided by age, fewer young adults ages 18 to 34 sympathize with Palestinians than Israel, at 23% to 31%, respectively.
Over half of the 65+ population sympathize more with Israelis than Palestinians, and just 6% of this same population say they sympathize more with Palestinians.
Democratic views of Israel isolate Jews on the left
A poll published in 2021 by Pew Research showed that a majority of Jews living in the U.S. are ideologically on the political left. About 7 in 10 Jews identify as Democrat or lean left of center, while 26% lean right or identify as Republican.
Longtime Democrat Yaffa Rubinstein said she feels “betrayed” by her party due to the emerging “anti-Israel” sentiment, per NPR.
A spokesperson for the Republican Jewish Coalition, Sam Markstein, told NPR, “The Democratic Party of today has had a very loud and growing and ascendant anti-Israel voice and wing and they’ve been coddled and enabled by leadership for years.
He continued, “That, I think, has led to a point where you will see Jewish voters who may have never voted Republican in their lives seriously considering voting Republican for the first time ever in 2024.”
Even within the House of Representatives, views on Israel seem to be dividing Democrats, with Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., calling the Israeli government an “apartheid” system and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., rejecting her use of the phrase, “From the river to the sea,” per a press release.
The Wall Street Journal’s poll “surveyed 1,500 registered voters from Nov. 29-Dec. 4 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.”
Pew Research’s study included a sample of 5,203 individuals through an online survey with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8 percentage points.
