US Support for Israel Declines as Democrats Turn Critical

A new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research reveals a dramatic erosion of American support for Israel, driven primarily by growing criticism among Democrats and deepening partisan divisions over what was once a bedrock bipartisan consensus in US foreign policy.

About one-third of US adults — including roughly half of Democrats — believe Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, according to the survey of 3,040 adults conducted June 11-17. The findings, published July 7, arrive nearly three years after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack and amid increasingly public tensions between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Democratic Shift

The poll documents a decisive realignment within the Democratic Party. Some 58% of Democrats now say the United States is “too supportive” of Israel, up sharply from 45% in an AP-NORC poll from January 2024, when Joe Biden was president. That includes 51% of Jewish Democrats.

Support for the Palestinians has surged in parallel. Roughly 62% of Democrats say the US is “not supportive enough” of Palestinians, up from 49% in 2024. Notably, older Democrats are rapidly closing the generational gap: 57% of Democrats aged 45 and older now say the US should do more for Palestinians, up from just 39% two years ago.

“The Gaza Strip, there’s not a lot left of it. Those poor people are barely living,” said Joy Jennik, a 73-year-old Democrat from Brookfield, Wisconsin, who told pollsters she now believes Israel is guilty of genocide.

Harold Kalmus, a 69-year-old Democrat from Arden, Delaware who describes himself as Jewish by birth, said he remembers being proud of Israel when he was younger — but no longer. “I realize that there is a threat from Hamas. And I realize they’re in a very difficult situation, but what they have done is just an unspeakable horror,” he said. “They’re trying to wipe out a civilization as far as I’m concerned.”

Republican Views Remain Steady, With an Age Gap

Among Republicans, the picture is markedly different but not monolithic. Only 13% describe Israel’s actions as genocide, and 60% say US support for Israel is “about right.” However, an age gap is emerging: about 20% of Republicans under 45 say Israel has committed genocide, double the rate among older Republicans.

Mike Cardona, a 70-year-old Republican from suburban Phoenix, said he is satisfied with current US support for Israel and rejects the genocide accusation. “I wish they’d gone in harder and better,” he said of Israel’s military operations. “Unfortunately, some innocents will be hurt, but Hamas and Hezbollah never took that into consideration when they were killing children and women in Israel.”

The share of Republicans who say the US is “not supportive enough” of Israel has shrunk from 39% to 15% since 2024, suggesting the party’s pro-Israel faction has consolidated while the rest have become more neutral.

Jewish American Views in Focus

The poll oversampled 1,022 Jewish adults to provide reliable estimates of their views. About 30% of Jewish adults say Israel has committed genocide, while 49% say it has not. Netanyahu is particularly unpopular among this group: roughly 6 in 10 view him unfavorably, while about one-third see him positively, as Ynetnews reported.

By contrast, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani — an outspoken Israel critic — is viewed favorably by 44% of Jewish adults, compared with only about 33% for Netanyahu.

Netanyahu’s Unpopularity Spans Party Lines

Overall, only 20% of US adults have a favorable view of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while 38% view him unfavorably and 41% say they do not know enough to have an opinion. Younger adults across both parties are more likely to hold no opinion, but among those who do, younger Republicans’ views tilt unfavorable — a departure from older Republicans who see Netanyahu positively.

A Polarized Issue With Midterm Implications

The poll arrives just four months before high-stakes midterm elections that will determine control of Congress for Trump’s final two years in office. While only about one-third of Americans view the US-Israel relationship as an “extremely” or “very” important personal issue, the topic has become a flashpoint in Democratic primaries, where pro-Palestinian candidates have defeated establishment-backed incumbents.

For many voters, however, the economy remains the dominant concern. Michael Ripka, a 34-year-old stage hand from Casper, Wyoming who typically votes Republican, said the Middle East conflicts are “100% a very big distraction” from economic pressures. “Everything is mad expensive,” he said.

Analysis: A Historic Shift Underway

The erosion of bipartisan support for Israel represents one of the most significant shifts in US foreign policy opinion in decades. For years, support for Israel was a rare consensus issue, underpinned by a $38 billion military aid agreement — the largest the US has ever signed with any country.

But the Gaza war, which has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, has fundamentally altered American perceptions. Analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies note that Trump has “considerable flexibility” on Israel policy, given his loyal base and growing Democratic skepticism, as Al Jazeera reported.

Former US diplomat Aaron David Miller observed that “Israel has never been more unpopular with Congress or the public, both Republican and Democrat voters.”

What to Watch

With Israeli general elections expected later this year and Netanyahu facing potential ouster, the US-Israel relationship is entering uncharted territory. Trump’s reported frustrations with Netanyahu — including an alleged phone call in which he called the Israeli leader “crazy,” as France 24 detailed — suggest the personal and political dynamics between the two leaders are at a low point.

Whether the erosion of public support translates into concrete policy changes — such as conditions on military aid or shifts in diplomatic posture at the United Nations — remains an open question. But the polling data makes one thing clear: the American public’s relationship with Israel is undergoing its most significant transformation in a generation.