Americans' opinion of the Israeli people has dropped sharply over the past four years, with favorable views falling from 67% in 2022 to 52% this year — a 15-point decline that reflects the deepening polarization over Israel's military operations in Gaza and the West Bank, according to a Pew Research Center survey released Thursday.
The survey, which polled 12,574 US adults from May 4 to May 17, found that 42% now hold an unfavorable view of Israelis, up from just 25% in 2022. That's a near-doubling of negative sentiment in four years. Views of Palestinians remained relatively stable, with 50% holding a favorable opinion compared to 53% in 2022, while unfavorable views rose modestly from 39% to 44%. The margin of error for the full sample was plus or minus 1.3 percentage points.
The Partisan Divide
The sharpest shifts came among Democrats. Just over half of Democrats now hold an unfavorable view of Israelis, up from 31% in 2022. Only 43% of Democrats view Israelis favorably, compared to 65% of Republicans. On Palestinians, the divide runs the other direction: roughly two-thirds of Democrats hold a favorable view, compared to one-third of Republicans.
Young Americans under 30 are driving much of the change. Just 32% view Israelis favorably, while 58% view Palestinians favorably. Among young Democrats specifically, 72% hold a positive view of Palestinians and only 26% hold a positive view of Israelis — a gap that suggests the conflict's human toll, broadcast daily on social media, is reshaping generational attitudes toward the region.
Government vs. People
Americans distinguished sharply between people and governments. While 52% still view the Israeli people favorably, 62% hold an unfavorable view of the Israeli government. The Palestinian Authority fared worse, with 69% viewing it unfavorably, and Hamas received the lowest marks of all, with 84% holding an unfavorable opinion. The survey was conducted before Hamas announced Monday that it will dissolve its government in Gaza ahead of its transfer to the Palestinian technocratic committee established by US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace.
Shifting Views Among Jewish Americans
Even among Jewish respondents, attitudes toward Israel have cooled. Favorable views of the Israeli people fell from 89% in 2024 to 83% this year, while favorable opinions of the Israeli government dropped from 54% to 47%. Forty percent of Jewish adults view the Palestinian people favorably, compared to 58% who view them unfavorably. Just 10% hold a favorable view of the Palestinian Authority, and 2% view Hamas favorably.
Why This Matters:
The 15-point drop in favorable views of Israelis represents one of the steepest declines in American public opinion toward any nation in recent years. It reflects not just partisan polarization, but the cumulative weight of images from Gaza — destroyed neighborhoods, displaced families, rising civilian death tolls — that have dominated news cycles and social feeds since the war's escalation. For a country that has long enjoyed bipartisan support in Washington, the generational and ideological fractures revealed in this survey suggest that unconditional backing can no longer be assumed. The distinction Americans draw between the Israeli people and their government offers a potential opening for advocates of a negotiated peace, but the overall trend points toward a public increasingly skeptical of policies that produce the human costs now visible to millions. How US policymakers respond to this shift — whether by conditioning military aid, pushing harder for a ceasefire, or doubling down on traditional alliances — will shape not just Middle East diplomacy but America's own political landscape for years to come.