“Forty-one percent of Americans now say they sympathize more with the Palestinians in the Middle East situation, while 36 percent sympathize more with the Israelis. The five-percentage-point difference is not statistically significant, but it contrasts with a clear lead for the Israelis only a year ago (46 percent vs 33 percent) and larger leads over the prior 24 years. From 2001 to 2025, Israelis consistently held double-digit leads in Americans’ Middle East sympathies, with the gap averaging 43 points between 2001 and 2018. However, public opinion began narrowing in 2019, several years before the Oct 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza. The cumulative effect of gradual changes in US attitudes since then has led to the Israelis no longer being viewed more sympathetically,” says the intro to Gallup’s latest polling and the writing on the wall for “Bibi.”
Worse, the relatively narrow gap is all propped up by respondents 55 and older, who sympathize with Israel 49 to 31 percent. Among those between 35 and 54 it’s 46 percent Palestinians to 31 percent Israelis and with 18-34s an even wider 53 to 23 percent Palestinians over Israelis.