ISRAEL LOSING SUPPORT IT GAINED AFTER HAMAS ATTACK AMONG US PUBLIC: POLL

Thu 09 October 2023:

The number of younger supporters of the US Democratic party who say they are less likely to vote for President Biden over his stance on Israel-Palestinian issues has more than doubled since October, a new poll by the University of Maryland has found.

They are also now “twice as likely” to view Biden as “too pro-Israeli” and the number of those “who want the United States to lean toward the Palestinians have measurably increased”, according to the university’s “Critical Issues Poll”.

“Young people [under 35] across the partisan divide were less likely to want the United States to take Israel’s side compared with October, but the change among young Democrats was especially striking,” Professor Shibley Telhami, director of the poll, said of the latest findings.

“The percentage of young Democrats who said Biden was too pro-Israeli doubled, going from 20.6 percent in October to 41.5 percent in November, while a negligible number [from 0 to 2.4 percent] said he was too pro-Palestinian,” Telhami said.

“What we find so far is that much of the initial bump in support for Israel that the American public exhibited early after the Hamas attack has not survived the reactions to the Israeli attacks in Gaza,” he said.

"Change among young Democrats has been particularly notable: They are now twice as likely to view President Joe Biden as “too pro-Israeli” than in October, the number of those saying they would be less likely to vote for Biden because of his stance on the Israeli-Palestinian… https://t.co/0vXtIBT0nU

— Shibley Telhami (@ShibleyTelhami) November 8, 2023

Respondents also were worried about antisemitism, with reports showing that it has spiked in recent years and increased even more dramatically since October 7. When asked, “How serious a problem do you think that prejudice against Jewish people is today,” 38% said it was very serious and 37% said it was somewhat serious.

The Quinnipiac poll was conducted on October 26, reaching 1,610 voters by phone, and had a margin of error of 2.4%.

Polls taken closer to the Hamas invasion found greater support overall for Israel, but that backing still diminished rapidly as respondents dropped in age.

An October 8-10 poll by the Economist/YouGov asked, “In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, are your sympathies more with…” and found a 42%-9% divide overall in favor of Israel. “About equal,” a possible response in that poll, got 22%. But for those aged 18-29, 25% sympathized more with Israel, 19% with the Palestinians, and 25% “about equal.” For those 65 and above, 62% favored Israel, 3% favored the Palestinians and 18% responded “about equal.” That poll reached 1,500 adults online and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

The Economist/YouGov poll and a Fox poll taken from October 7-9 also show greater support among Democratic voters for Israel at the outset of the war, which dropped precipitously by the time Quinnipiac asked its questions late last week.

The Fox poll, which had a margin error of 3.5%, showed Democrats siding with Israel over the Palestinians 59% to 25%, while Republicans sided with Israel 79% to 11%. The YouGov poll showed 26% of Democrats sympathizing with Israel, 15% sympathizing with the Palestinians and 26% saying they sympathized equally with both. (For Republicans in the YouGov poll, the numbers are 64% sympathizing with Israel, 3% sympathizing with the Palestinians, and 13% sympathizing equally with both.)

Three weeks later, Quinnipiac, asking whether respondents approve or disapprove of Israel’s response, found that 49% of Democrats disapprove while 33% approve. Three-quarters of Republicans approve, while 14% disapprove.

While US President Joe Biden’s administration has provided weaponry and diplomatic support to Israel, both he and his Israeli counterparts have said that Israeli troops alone will fight the war. The Quinnipiac poll suggests Americans may not trust that assurance. Asked “How concerned are you that the United States will be drawn into a military conflict in the Middle East,” 43% of respondents said they were very concerned and 41% said they were somewhat concerned — a total of 84%.

Other polls provide a mixed picture of how Americans feel about Biden’s vocal support for Israel. A NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll of 1,000 registered voters from October 23 and 24 found that 52% approved of Biden’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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