GALLUP POLL: MAJORITY OF AMERICANS NOW OPPOSE ISRAELI ACTION IN GAZA
From the Gallup Poll:
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- After narrowly backing Israel’s military action in Gaza in November, Americans now oppose the campaign by a solid margin. Fifty-five percent currently disapprove of Israel’s actions, while 36% approve.
The latest results are from a March 1-20 survey. The Israel-Hamas war has continued for five months and has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians and over 1,000 Israelis. Major parts of Gaza have been destroyed, complicating efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians still living there. The United Nations and international community, including the Biden administration, have called for a cease-fire, but the two warring sides have been unable to agree.
The poll was completed before the U.N. Security Council on Monday passed a resolution calling for a cease-fire during Ramadan. The measure passed because the United States abstained rather than vetoing the resolution. The U.S. had previously vetoed other resolutions calling for a cease-fire.
Seventy-four percent of U.S. adults say they are following news of the Israeli-Hamas situation closely, similar to the 72% Gallup measured in November. One-third of Americans (34%) say they are following the situation “very closely.”
Disapproval of Israel’s military action is similar regardless of how much attention Americans are paying to the conflict. However, those paying less attention are more likely than their counterparts to have no opinion on the matter, resulting in lower approval than seen among people paying greater attention.
Republicans Retain Positive Stance; Independents Decidedly Negative
All three major party groups in the U.S. have become less supportive of Israel’s actions in Gaza than they were in November. This includes declines of 18 percentage points in approval among both Democrats and independents and a seven-point decline among Republicans.
Independents have shifted from being divided in their views of the Israeli military action to opposing it. Democrats, who were already largely opposed in November, are even more so now, with 18% approving and 75% disapproving.
Republicans still support Israel’s military efforts, but a reduced majority -- 64%, down from 71% -- now approve.
Democrats’ widespread opposition to Israel’s actions underscores the difficulty of the issue for President Joe Biden among his most loyal supporters. Some Democratic critics believe Biden has been too closely aligned with Israel by not taking stronger actions to promote a cease-fire and to assist Palestinian civilians caught in the war zone.
Biden’s approval rating for his handling of the situation in the Middle East, at 27%, is his lowest among five issues tested in the survey. This is because far fewer Democrats (47%) approve of how he is handling the situation between the Israelis and Palestinians than approve of his handling of the economy, the environment, energy policy and foreign affairs, broadly. On those issues, no less than 66% of Democrats approve of Biden.
Only further contributing to Biden’s low rating on the Middle East situation, just 21% of independents and 16% of Republicans approve of his performance on the issue.
Still, it appears that the Middle East conflict has not taken an obvious toll on Biden’s political standing. His overall job approval rating is 40%, compared with 37% in October and November surveys, perhaps being lifted by Americans’ greater confidence in the U.S. economy.
Bottom Line
As the Israel-Hamas war drags on, U.S. support for its ally’s actions in the war is slipping. This follows Gallup’s February poll finding that Americans hold less positive views of both Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Like many issues, U.S. partisans find themselves on opposing sides. Most Republicans, though fewer than in the fall, support Israel's actions, while the vast majority of Democrats are opposed. Independents’ opinions are now much closer to those of Democrats.
Although Americans rate Biden's handling of the conflict poorly, his overall job approval rating is no lower now than before the conflict began. The issue does not register highly when Americans are asked to name the most important problem facing the U.S. Nor does it rank highly when Americans rate each of several international issues as critical threats to U.S. vital interests. It could hurt the president by dampening turnout among would-be Biden voters who care deeply about the issue and are upset with his handling of the situation.
TC: Please, Israeli government, look at the history in the Old Testament. Every single time Israel has gotten out “over its skis” and lost international support, Very Bad Things (Babylonian Captivity, Roman destruction of Jerusalem) happen.
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No surprises here; no reasonable person opposes Israel's preservation of its national integrity, any more than they do that of Ukraine, Taiwan, or this country. Biden suffers from the ongoing desire of Americans for their President to have a magic wand that, by waving it, will make all the bad stuff go away. These folks will start wondering sometime Friday why the Key Bridge hasn't been reopened yet and criticize Biden for that. The breaks on Israel policy come from a difference of priorities and perception: most of us prioritize Israeli territorial integrity and the minimization of Gazan civilian casualties while being less concerned about Mr. Netanyahoo's continuation in office. Those who, like the Israeli PM, confuse his integrity (non-existent) with that of his country and who toss in a bit of anti-Palestinian cultural bias, don't have as much trouble accepting the idea that several tens of thousand of dead Gazans is simply the price of eliminating Hamas as an effective player in the Middle Eastern Game of Thrones. Until the financial support that keeps Hamas going is eliminated, they, no more than ISIS or al-Queda, or any of the various other terrorist groups currently muddying the international waters, have any incentive to stop what they're doing and the notion that all of their operatives can be eliminated (killed) is as fanciful now as it has ever been. The two-state idea is probably the only potentially workable approach to 'peace' in the area but that is contingent on having effective policing of both the West Bank and Gaza that necessarily includes restraining the radical Israeli settlers who continue to push into land that is, by international agreement, not theirs. The best that Mr. Biden will be able to do is manage the tension and hope for something of a miracle.
This whole sad and tragic episode has played out far better than Hamas could have imagined..... The scenes of the IDF reenacting the Warsaw Ghetto in Gaza are gold in Islamic propaganda, and the irony is that most of the Muslim world does not particularly care about the Palestinians politically - Bibi's self-serving over-reaction and the IDF's excessive destruction of civilian lives and infrastructure are playing into Hamas's hands. Israel will pay a heavy price internationally for their actions in Gaza, however justified a response was to the horrific Oct. 7 Hamas assault in Israelis.....