U.S.-Israeli relations are on a new level, now that the pro-Israel Trump administration has been in office for almost a month. While President Donald Trump's first term was marked by support for our ally in the Middle East, and it's looking like that will be the case for his second term as well, in between his two terms we had the Biden-Harris administration. President Joe Biden claimed to be pro-Israel, but went with problematic moves such as withholding support. Many of his fellow Democrats also had issues supporting Israel, with some even harboring anti-Israel sentiments after the October 7 attack perpetrated by Hamas. It turns out that many ordinary Democrats hold such views as well.
Recently, The Economist/YouGov conducted a poll which covered a wide range of topics, including whether Americans sympathize more with Israelis or Palestinians. While a plurality, at 31 percent, say they sympathize more with Israelis, the gap is narrowing, as 21 percent now say they sympathize more with Palestinians.
Just 9 percent of Democrats and black respondents, as well as 10 percent of liberals, and 13 percent of those who voted for Vice President Kamala Harris last November say they sympathize more with Israelis. A strong plurality of black respondents, at 41 percent, say they're "not sure," but pluralities of Democrats (35 percent), Harris voters (34 percent), and liberals (42 percent) say they sympathize more with Palestinians.
Speaking about the pitiful 9 percent of Democrats who say they sympathize more with Israelis, Guy fittingly referred to the findings as a "deep moral rot & genuinely frightening."
NINE percent of Democrats say they’re more sympathetic to the Israelis in the conflict. A plurality sympathize more with the Palestinians. A deep moral rot & genuinely frightening. https://t.co/pATd7z3XeB
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) February 13, 2025
The poll's write-up noted how this is the most support that Americans have shown Palestinians in years, and that this is due to support from Democrats:
- Rising sympathies with the Palestinians are particularly driven by Democrats — 35% of them sympathize more with the Palestinians, just 9% with the Israelis, and 32% with both equally
- The 9% of Democrats who sympathize more with the Israelis is down from 34% in the immediate aftermath of Hamas's October 7, 2023 attacks. The 35% who sympathize more with the Palestinians is up from 16% in the October 14 - 17, 2023 survey
- In the seven-year history of Economist / YouGov polling on this question, Democratic sympathies for the Palestinians have never been this high relative to the share of Democrats who say they sympathize about equally with both sides, which has tended to be the largest group of Democrats
Israel also came into the poll's findings when it comes to questions involving foreign aid. Among those questions involved whether Americans believe that the United States should prioritize providing aid to poor countries versus countries that actually support U.S. foreign policy. While a plurality of respondents, at 38 percent, believe the latter should be prioritized, it's a much different story among Democrats. A majority, at 53 percent, say aid should be focused on poor countries.
A majority of Democrats want to provide aid to multiple countries, especially Ukraine, with 77 percent saying so. That's not the case with Israel, as just 40 percent of Democrats to. This is the one country where more Republicans than Democrats say they want to provide aid, with 62 percent of Republicans saying so. Forty percent of Republicans and 36 percent of Republicans say they want to provide aid to Taiwan and Ukraine, respectively.
Of the 10 countries listed, Israel is the only country where a majority of Republicans support providing aid. A majority of Democrats, meanwhile, support providing aid to four of them, though Israel isn't one of them.
% of Democrats | Republicans who support the U.S. providing aid to...
— YouGov America (@YouGovAmerica) February 11, 2025
Ukraine 77% | 36%
Taiwan 61% | 40%
Israel 40% | 62%
Mexico 65% | 24%
Ethiopia 58% | 24%https://t.co/rSN2Y7D6Ss pic.twitter.com/FbLhZSRtw8
There were plenty of questions as well about Trump's plans for Gaza, although the president has since made clear that boots won't be on the ground there. That hasn't stopped Democrats from their performative tricks on the matter, which included Rep. Al Green (D-TX) announcing that he was going to bring forth articles of impeachment.
As one question asked, "Do you agree or disagree that moving all Palestinians out of Gaza constitutes genocide?" A plurality of all respondents, at 33 percent, said they were "not sure," though 23 percent said they "strongly disagree," in comparison to the 21 percent who "strongly agree." Not surprisingly, though, pluralities of Democrats (37 percent), liberals (43 percent), and Harris voters (43 percent) say they "strongly agree" that it does.
Speaking once more of Trump, the poll also asked about his support for Israel. A plurality, at 35 percent, believe his "approach to the Israel-Hamas war" has been "about right." Once again, Democrats, liberals, and Harris supporters stand apart from most other respondents. A plurality of Democrats, at 47 percent, say Trump's approach has been "too supportive." It's actually a majority of liberals (54 percent) and Harris supporters (55 percent) who say so. Meanwhile, RealClearPolling had Biden with just a 31.3 percent approval rating on the Israel-Hamas conflic.
The poll was conducted February 9-11, with 1,595 respondents and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
In other news to do with Biden and Israel, the former president's X account is actually taking credit for the release of hostages that took place under Trump's watch, as he said he was "proud" about the a deal "we negotiated..."
It's been 498 days since the October 7 attack took place in 2023. Biden was president for the attack, just as he was when Russia's Vladimir Putin was emboldened to invade Ukraine after the particularly chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Biden's post has been hit with tens of thousands of replies since it went up on Saturday afternoon.
Jill and I are relieved, alongside millions of others around the world, that Sagui Dekel-Chen is finally reunited with his family after 498 painful days. I am proud that the deal we negotiated has held, paving the way for the release of hostages. My thoughts and prayers are with…
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) February 15, 2025
