Support for Israel continues to deteriorate, especially among Democrats and young people

Introduction

Since Hamas’s terrorist attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, the world has watched as Israel carries out military actions in Gaza. During this period, images from this conflict have been shown on television, and especially importantly, on social media, for younger audiences to absorb at a high rate. As a result, we have seen the already shaky support for Israel among young Americans plummet as the visuals of Palestinian suffering are played on repeat, and youth-led activist movements spread their messaging. However, there is now growing evidence that older Democrats have become more critical of Israel as well, isolating older Republicans as the sole American demographic firmly behind Israel.

An Economist/YouGov survey released on August 5, 2025, offers a vivid baseline for our study. A plurality of the electorate believes that Israel’s continued attacks on Gaza are unjustified, only 27% are supportive of Prime Minister Netanyahu, and 84% favor an immediate ceasefire. More than seven in 10 believe that there is a hunger crisis in Gaza; not surprisingly, there is strong support for more humanitarian aid to Palestinians. The survey also reveals that 45% of voters believe that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians; only 31% disagree. This view predominates, not only among Democrats and liberals, but independents and moderates as well. As we will show, this weakening of American public approval for Israel has not occurred overnight, but has been building over a period of years.

Democrats are more unified on views towards Israel than Republicans

Compared to 2022, negative views of Israel have risen across the board, though at vastly different rates when broken down by age and party. Pew has found that among U.S. adults, negative views have gone from 42% to 53%. Among Republicans, they have risen from 27% to 37%; among Democrats, from 53% to 69%. Looked at by age, young Republicans aged 18-49 have shifted from 35% having an unfavorable view of Israel to 50% unfavorable, while such views among Republicans aged 50+ have gone up only marginally from 19% to 23%. Among Democrats, there has been an increase of 62% to 71% in the 18 to 49-year-old demographic, and an even larger increase from 43% to 66% among 50+ year-olds.

Typically, opinions among older adults change slowly and incrementally. This study suggests such remains true only for older Republicans, but not older Democrats, who shifted the most of any age group. This trend indicates a broader change across the political left in sentiments towards Israel that bucks the generational narrative: It’s not solely young people who have become highly critical of the war in Gaza.

When assessing Americans’ confidence in Prime Minister Netanyahu, a similar pattern exists. Among Republicans, 50% said they had a lot of confidence in Netanyahu to do the right things regarding global affairs, while 34% said they had “not too much” or “no confidence” in him at all. Among Republicans under age 50, 45% answered “not too much” or “none at all”, and 32% “some or a lot.” Contrast this with Republicans 50 and older, who answered 24% “not too much” or “none at all,” and 70% who said “some” or “a lot.” For Democrats, the numbers were more similar across age groups. Seventy percent of Democrats overall reported “none at all” or “not too much” confidence in Netanyahu—68% among Democrats under 50 and 73% for Democrats 50 and older.

Though sympathy for Israelis is down across the board, they are still preferred over Palestinians by Republicans—but not by Democrats

Since the start of the war, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs-Ipsos has tracked a steep decrease in positive feelings towards Israel across the political spectrum. For Republicans, 69% at the start has gone down to 63%, for independents, 56% to 50%, and among Democrats, we see the steepest decline, from 51% to 41%.

Overall, U.S. public sympathy for Palestinians versus Israelis has been shifting since the mid-2010s, when sympathy for Israelis was just over 60% and for Palestinians under 20%. Since the war, this shift has accelerated. Now, just 46% of Americans’ sympathies lie more with Israel, compared to 33% with the Palestinians.

There has been a major shift among Democrats over the past 24 years. In 2001, over 50% said their sympathies lay more with the Israelis, versus 16% whose sympathies lay more with the Palestinians. By 2023, those numbers had evened out. When the war started, the shift in preference accelerated, and now a strong majority of Democrats (59%) say they are more sympathetic to the Palestinians, versus just 21% who answered with the Israelis.

In contrast, Republican sentiments have remained fairly stable over the same period, with only a slight drop in sympathies for Israelis since the war began (78% to 75%). This stability is intriguing because the Pew study shows a growing negative feeling for Israel among Republicans, as well as Democrats. But when the issue is relative sympathy for Israelis versus the Palestinians, the share of Democrats “more sympathetic” to the Palestinians has soared, while Republicans haven’t budged. This seems to indicate dissatisfaction with both parties, but a clear preference for Israel among Republicans.

Among independents, we see a trend of sympathy for Israelis, which was rising throughout the 2000s and early 2010s, before beginning to decline. Beginning in 2023, we saw a sharper drop from 49% to 42% today. On the other hand, Palestinian sympathies had remained fairly stagnant throughout the same initial period until they began to increase in the latter half of the 2010s and early 2020s before reaching their current mark of 34%.

On the issue of partisan preference for picking a side in the conflict, 58% of Republicans believe the U.S. should take Israel’s side, while 3% favor Palestine, and 38% support neither. Among Democrats, 10% favor Israel, 20% favor the Palestinians, and 68% believe the U.S. should not take sides. Among independents, 24% favor Israel, 11% favor Palestine, and 64% believe the U.S. should avoid taking a side. Overall, this equates to 58% of Americans not wanting to take a side, 28% favoring Israel, and 12% favoring Palestine.

A growing partisan divide on Israel’s military actions in Gaza

Gallup has tracked public opinion of Israel’s actions in Gaza since the war started, indicating growing disapproval. At the start of military operations, 50% of Americans said they approved of Israel’s actions, versus 45% who disapproved. Fast forward to today, and sentiments have shifted significantly. Now, 60% say they disapprove, versus just 32% who say they approve.

Broken down by party, the gap becomes extreme. Republican support for Israel’s actions has remained relatively stable throughout, with support today (71%) matching where it was at the start of Israeli military operations in Gaza. Among independents, support stood at 47% and has since dropped to 25%. Among Democrats, support stood at 36% at the start and has since plummeted to just 8%. Yet again, we see the phenomenon of Republicans holding firm with Israel despite younger party members voicing dissatisfaction earlier in the Pew poll. A potential explanation may be the timing of Israel’s strikes on Iran (an action military experts say was made possible largely by Israel’s degrading of Iran’s proxies), which was met with overwhelming Republican approval.

Turning to the breakdown by age, only 9% of those aged 18 to 34 approve of Israel’s military actions in Gaza. In the 35-54 demographic, this number rises to 29%, and in the 55 and older age group, it stands at 49%.

Considering U.S. military support for Israel’s war aims, support for Israel among independents and Republicans has remained relatively stable, compared to a steep drop among Democrats. On the question of militarily supporting Israel until all hostages are free, in 2024, 55% of Democrats supported continuing military assistance. By 2025, that number had dropped to 43%. On the question of military support until Hamas is dismantled or destroyed, 41% supported continuing military assistance in 2024, versus just 32% in 2025.

Most Americans continue to support Israel over Hamas

A Harvard Harris survey identified some stunning findings in regard to the generational gap in opinions towards Hamas. When asked whom they support more, Israel or Hamas, 40% of young people answered they support Hamas (an internationally recognized terrorist organization), versus 60% who said they support Israel. Contrast this with the 65+ age group, with 92% in support of Israel and just 8% Hamas.

On the question of Israel’s endgame, younger Americans and Democrats proved far more open to negotiations with Hamas. Fifty-six percent of younger Americans want Israel to make a deal with the group to end the fighting, versus 38% of the oldest demographic. Among Democrats, 52% think Israel should make a deal, versus 38% of the GOP.

Americans appear to distinguish between the Palestinians in general and Hamas in particular. This is the most plausible explanation for the Harvard Harris results, which are much more pro-Israel overall, despite some support for Hamas among younger Americans.

Still, the Harvard Harris poll finds 80% support for hostage release, versus 55% for the Chicago Council, which also refers to Hamas. Why does such variation exist? One hypothesis: Including “military aid” in the question reduces the share of affirmative responses. The wording of polling questions can make a significant difference.

Conclusion

While the generational divide on opinions towards Israel is a highly publicized phenomenon, the reality has become more complex. As the war drags on, Democrats of all ages have begun to move in tandem on this issue. It is among Republicans that we now see a widening generational divide.

Most of the surveys discussed in this article were conducted before the famine in Gaza began to dominate the news. The Economist/YouGov survey cited at the beginning of this article provides an early indication of this shift, but a more definitive assessment of the size and dimensions of these changes will have to await surveys conducted in the coming weeks.