Gallup Poll: Americans’ Sympathies Shifted in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ A new Gallup poll shows American sympathies between Israelis and Palestinians are now nearly evenly split. Support for Palestinians has risen sharply among Democrats, independents, and younger Americans. The shift marks a dramatic change after decades of dominant U.S. sympathy for Israel.
Gallup poll shows shift toward Palestinians Quick Looks
- 41% of Americans now sympathize more with Palestinians.
- 36% say their sympathies lie more with Israelis.
- Three years ago, 54% favored Israelis compared to 31% for Palestinians.
- About two-thirds of Democrats now sympathize more with Palestinians.
- 7 in 10 Republicans still sympathize more with Israelis.
- Younger Americans show the strongest shift toward Palestinians.
- 57% of U.S. adults support an independent Palestinian state.
- Poll margin of error: ±4 percentage points.
Deep Look: Gallup Poll: Americans’ Sympathies Shifted in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
WASHINGTON (AP)— American public opinion on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has reached a historic turning point, according to new Gallup polling that shows sympathies between Israelis and Palestinians now nearly evenly divided.
For decades, Americans overwhelmingly sided with Israel in the long-running conflict. As recently as three years ago, 54% of U.S. adults said they sympathized more with Israelis, compared with 31% who leaned toward Palestinians. Today, that gap has disappeared. The new poll finds 41% of Americans say they sympathize more with Palestinians, while 36% say they sympathize more with Israelis.
Because the survey carries a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, support for the two sides is effectively at parity — a striking shift in American sentiment.
“It’s the first time they have reached parity, which is really quite striking,” said Benedict Vigers, a senior global news writer at Gallup. “In not many years, that very significant gap in public opinion has now completely closed.”
War in Gaza Accelerated the Shift
Gallup’s data suggests that the trend toward greater sympathy for Palestinians began before Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. That attack killed roughly 1,200 people in Israel and resulted in the abduction of more than 250 hostages.
Israel’s military response in Gaza, however, appears to have accelerated the shift. Gaza health authorities report more than 72,000 Palestinians killed during the conflict, with widespread destruction across the territory. Critics, including some progressive politicians and activists, have described Israel’s actions as disproportionate or even genocidal — an accusation Israel strongly rejects.
Public debate over U.S. support for Israel intensified as the war progressed. Within the Democratic Party in particular, the issue has become a flashpoint, influencing primary elections and internal party divisions.
Democrats Drive the Change
The poll reveals dramatic changes among Democrats. About two-thirds now say they sympathize more with Palestinians, while only about 2 in 10 lean toward Israelis. That marks a profound reversal from 2016, when roughly half of Democrats sided more with Israel and only about one-quarter favored Palestinians.
Gallup data shows the Democratic shift began around 2017, years before the Gaza war. Some analysts link the earlier decline in Democratic sympathy for Israel to disapproval of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose favorability rating among Americans fell significantly over that period.
Netanyahu’s close relationship with President Donald Trump during Trump’s first term — including U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and sovereignty over the Golan Heights — further polarized opinion. The alignment between Trump and Netanyahu continued into Trump’s second term, reinforcing partisan divides in the United States.
Democrats expressed growing discomfort with U.S. policy during President Joe Biden’s administration as well. Polling in late 2023 and 2024 showed Democratic voters were increasingly likely to say the Israeli government bore substantial responsibility for the conflict’s escalation.
Independents and Republicans
Independents have also shifted. For the first time in Gallup’s trend, independents are more likely to sympathize with Palestinians than Israelis. About 4 in 10 independents now lean toward Palestinians, compared with about 3 in 10 who side more with Israel — the lowest level recorded for Israeli sympathy among this group.
Republicans remain firmly pro-Israel, with about 7 in 10 saying they sympathize more with Israelis. That figure, however, is slightly lower than before the Gaza war began, when roughly 8 in 10 Republicans expressed such support.
Within Republican ranks, some members of the “America First” wing have questioned traditional levels of U.S. support for Israel, though the party overall remains strongly aligned with the Israeli government.
Generational Divide Deepens
Age differences are among the most striking findings in the new poll.
Americans ages 18 to 34 are now far more likely to sympathize with Palestinians. About half of young adults say they lean toward Palestinians, while roughly one-quarter say they sympathize more with Israelis.
College campus protests during the Gaza war, which called for divestment from companies tied to Israel, underscored the generational divide.
But the shift is not limited to young adults. For the first time, middle-aged Americans — those 35 to 54 — now lean more toward Palestinians than Israelis, reversing last year’s pattern.
Americans 55 and older still sympathize more with Israel, but even in that age group, support has declined to its lowest point in two decades.
“With adults over 55, they are more sympathetic to Israelis, but it’s as low as it’s been since 2005,” Vigers said.
Views on a Palestinian State
The poll also asked Americans whether they support the creation of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Fifty-seven percent of U.S. adults favor such a two-state solution — consistent with polling over the past several years.
Partisan differences are pronounced. About three-quarters of Democrats and roughly 6 in 10 independents support an independent Palestinian state. Only about one-third of Republicans agree.
Interestingly, Gallup World Poll data from 2025 suggests that support for a two-state solution is significantly lower among Israelis and Palestinians themselves. Only about 3 in 10 people living in Israel, the West Bank, and east Jerusalem said they favored such an arrangement.
“That interesting sort of disconnect between the region itself and Americans’ views toward it” highlights the complexity of the issue, Vigers noted.
A Political and Foreign Policy Turning Point
The narrowing gap in American sympathies reflects broader shifts in political alignment, generational attitudes, and reactions to the Gaza war. What was once a relatively bipartisan consensus supporting Israel has fractured, particularly within the Democratic Party.
As debates over U.S. military aid, diplomatic backing, and Middle East policy continue, the new Gallup findings suggest that American public opinion is undergoing one of its most significant transformations in decades.
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