- 'There's been an almost 20-point decline in national approval in these two years,' Gallup’s Benedict Vigers tells Anadolu pointing to record highs in pro-Palestinian support
- Party affiliation and age emerge among the top predictors on Israel-Palestine, but even younger Republicans 'typically look a bit more like young Americans in general than Republicans in general,' says Vigers
WASHINGTON
Support among Americans for Israel’s war on the besieged Gaza Strip is at a critically low juncture, with little room left for further decline as the offensive, now on its third year, drags on public opinion, particularly among younger adults and Democrats.
The latest data from multinational polling firm Gallup found support for the war among adult Americans sits at just 32%, an all-time low. Nearly twice that figure — 60% — disapprove, with sweeping opposition found in those aged 18 to 34.
Benedict Vigers, Gallup’s senior global news writer, described the situation as a “decisive shift” within the American public as clear divides along partisan — as well as generational — lines take hold.
“We first asked this question around approval of military action in Gaza in November 2023, so just a month or so after the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7,” Vigers told Anadolu during an exclusive interview. “Back then, we found 50% of Americans saying they approved of Israel's military action in Gaza. So there's been an almost 20-point decline in national approval in these two years,” he said, reflecting on Gallup’s July data.
“We first asked this question around approval of military action in Gaza in November 2023,” Vigers told Anadolu during an exclusive interview.
Sharp differences on support for the war persist along partisan lines, however.
Republicans have remained staunchly supportive, with some 71% standing in support of Israel — a figure that has remained roughly stable over the course of two years. Both the current figure and the relative persistence in support stand in sharp contrast with Democrats.
Just 8% now support the war, a marked downturn from November 2023, when 36% backed Israel’s offensive. Independents have similarly moved off of their previous support, sitting at 25%, down from 47%.
Gallup is expected to release additional polling data, though the timeline remains unclear. Still, Vigers said that hitherto collected figures leave little expectation for a foundational shift.
“What we've seen in the last two years can hint maybe at a few things that we might expect to see in the future. I think, as I mentioned, that stability in the Republican approval ratings of Israel's actions in Gaza, they seem relatively baked in and stable, and they haven't really shifted much in two years despite everything that's happened on the ground in the region,” he said.
“And when it comes to Democrats, there's certainly not much room left for their approval ratings to fall. They're already in the single digits,” he added.
Youth more likely to oppose war regardless of party affiliation
While partisanship serves as one key indicator in predicting support for Israel’s war, younger Americans are more likely to stand in opposition, regardless of party.
Among Americans aged 55 and higher, 49% back Israel’s actions in Gaza, compared to just 9% of Americans aged 18-34. The trend runs across partisanship.
“Because Democrats — approval is so low anyway — we typically don't see very large differences between Democrats, whether they're young or old, whereas amongst Republicans, we find actually that younger Republicans typically look a bit more like young Americans in general than Republicans in general,” said Vigers.
“We see significantly larger gaps in approval towards Israel's actions in Gaza among Republicans, whether they're over 55, or under 34, so that's another interesting level of texture added.
“It’s not just a question of party, it's not just a question of age, but these two things also intersect in important ways,” he added.
Americans increasingly sympathetic to Palestinians
The downturn is part of a wider trend within the American public that has seen decades of staunch support of Israel gradually erode as sympathies shift to Palestine.
Fewer than one in every two Americans — 46% — now express sympathies for Israelis, the lowest level seen in the 25 years Gallup has tracked the metric. The annual data released in March found a corresponding uptick in support for the Palestinians, with some 33% of US adults saying their sympathies lie with them, the highest figure on record, eclipsing a previous high of 31% in early 2023.
Reflecting on the findings, Vigers said 2025 has been “quite the historic year,” pointing specifically to two trends that have emerged.
“Although Israelis still receive slightly more sympathy than Palestinians, the gap is as narrow as it's ever been, given that, historically, Americans have been much more sympathetic towards Israelis,” he said.
As with support for the war, partisanship serves as a key indicator of sympathies more generally.
“On the Republican side, they're more than seven times as likely to be sympathetic towards Israelis, whereas on Democrats, they're around three times now as likely to be sympathetic toward Palestinians.”
But with Democrats, Vigers notes that approval ratings have been shifting in favor of Palestinians over the past two years and “even in the months and few years” prior.
Asked if the war has accelerated the previously existing shift in opinions among Democrats, Vigers said, “absolutely.”
That partisan divide stands as a relative anomaly when compared to American support for other foreign countries.
“Most countries don't see massive partisan gaps in favorability by political party and persuasion in America. But Israel is one very clear exception to that,” he said, reflecting on years of Gallup data collected in its annual World Affairs survey.
Gallup data not only negative bellwether
Gallup’s figures are not anomalous. Pew Research Center, another US-based polling firm, released data Friday indicating that 39% of Americans believe Israel has gone too far in Gaza, an all-time high during the course of the war. Some 59% of Americans now hold an unfavorable view of Israel’s assault.
Like Gallup, Pew also found striking partisan differences between Democrats and Republicans on matters concerning Israel, with the GOP’s support far stronger than the Democrats. Just 18% of Democrats said they have favorable views of the Israeli government compared to 55% of Republicans who said so.
And for the first time, a majority of likely Democratic primary voters — 65% — said they support sanctions on Israel, according to data collected by YouGov. Some 72% said they believe Israel is actively committing genocide in Gaza, while 75% support ending annual US military assistance altogether.
Roughly one-in-four Gen Z Democrats say reducing US support for Israel will be a top-three factor in their 2026 Democratic primary vote.
Israel aware of shift
Last month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared acutely aware of the negative opinion deluge as he addressed a gathering of hand-picked social media influencers.
“We have to fight back. How do we fight back? Our influencers. I think you should also talk to them, if you have a chance, to that community, they're very important. And secondly, we're going to have to use the tools of battle,” he said.
“Weapons change over time. You can't fight today with swords, that doesn't work very well, okay? And you can't fight with cavalry, that doesn't work very well. You have these new things, you know, like drones, things like that. I won't get into that, but we have to fight with the weapons that apply to the battlefields in which we’re engaged, and the most important ones are on social media,” he added.
Netanyahu made the appeal as he finds himself on increasingly shaky footing among the American public.
For the first time since 1997, a majority of Americans — 52% — said they view the long-time Israeli leader unfavorably, according to Gallup’s data. Just 29% said they viewed him positively.
More Americans had viewed Netanyahu favorably than unfavorably until December 2023, and his numbers have continued to decline as the war has dragged on.
