Nearly two years into the war in Gaza, American support for Israel has undergone a seismic reversal, with large shares of voters expressing starkly negative views about the Israeli government’s management of the conflict, a new poll from The New York Times and Siena University found.
Disapproval of the war appears to have prompted a striking reassessment by American voters of their broader sympathies in the decades-old conflict in the region, with slightly more voters siding with Palestinians over Israelis for the first time since The Times began asking voters about their sympathies in 1998.
In the aftermath of the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, American voters broadly sympathized with Israelis over Palestinians, with 47 percent siding with Israel and 20 percent with Palestinians. In the new poll, 34 percent said they sided with Israel and 35 percent with Palestinians. Thirty-one percent said they were unsure or backed both equally.
A majority of American voters now oppose sending additional economic and military aid to Israel, a stunning reversal in public opinion since the Oct. 7 attacks. About six out of 10 voters said that Israel should end its military campaign, even if the remaining Israeli hostages were not released or Hamas was not eliminated. And 40 percent of voters said Israel was intentionally killing civilians in Gaza, nearly double the number of voters who agreed with that statement in the 2023 poll.
Taken together, the findings in the Times/Siena survey show a major deterioration in support for a staunch American ally that has enjoyed decades of bipartisan backing. The drop is an unusually large shift in public opinion in this hyper-polarized era, when public opinion has tended to move incrementally over long periods unless affected by cataclysmic events such as war.
Austin Mugleston, a Democrat from Blackfoot, Idaho, said his views on U.S. support for Israel had weakened as the conflict dragged on.
“I actually was pretty pro-Israel the last few years, especially hearing about the devastating terrorist night of Oct. 7,” said Mr. Mugleston, 33, who works in communications. “Nobody should go through that. But for how long it’s taking and from how much worse Israel is doing to Palestinians, it just doesn’t feel like a level playing field anymore.”
The survey also hints at challenges for the U.S.-Israel alliance in the future. Israel has been the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign aid since its founding in 1948, receiving hundreds of billions of dollars in support.
Younger voters, regardless of party, were less likely to back continuing that support. Nearly seven in 10 voters under 30 said they opposed additional economic or military aid.
Much of the shift in views on Israel has been driven by a sharp decline in support by Democratic voters. Republicans largely continue to support Israel, though there has been a modest decline.
Nearly two years ago, Democrats were evenly divided, with 34 percent sympathizing with Israel and 31 percent with Palestinians. Now, rank-and-file Democrats across the country overwhelmingly side with Palestinians — 54 percent said they sympathized more with Palestinians, while only 13 percent expressed greater empathy for Israel.
More than eight in 10 Democrats said Israel should stop the war even if the country had not achieved its goals, a notable increase from the roughly 60 percent who said the same two years ago.
Nearly six in 10 Democrats believe Israel is intentionally killing civilians, double the share who said the same in 2023.
Shannon Carey, 39, a Democrat from a suburb of Hartford, Conn., said the Israeli government’s response to the initial Oct. 7 attacks had become “unreasonable.” She said she would like the United States to stop supplying Israel with military and financial support because it was funding a “humanitarian crisis.”
“As a mother, seeing those children is horrifying,” Ms. Carey, a physician assistant, said. “This isn’t a war. It’s a genocide.”
The biggest movement within the Democratic Party has come from an unexpected place: White, college-educated, older Democrats who have become the backbone of the party in recent elections. Younger Democrats and Democrats without a college education were already much more sympathetic to Palestinians when the conflict began nearly two years ago.
In 2023, Democratic voters ages 45 and up sympathized with Israel over Palestinians 2-to-1. That is now reversed, with 42 percent saying they sympathize more with Palestinians, compared with 17 percent who feel more sympathetic toward Israel.
Patti West, 67, a retiree from Central Florida, said she had long considered herself a strong supporter of U.S. involvement in the region. She struggled with the idea of stopping aid, but came to believe it wasn’t helping end the conflict.
“Why do we keep funding this?” Ms. West, a Democrat, said. “This has been going since I was kid, and it’s still going on.” She added, “They are going to hate each other forever.”
Diminished backing for Israel among white Democrats was also more pronounced than shifts among nonwhite Democrats. Nonwhite Democrats were already more sympathetic to Palestinians when the conflict began.
Former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. faced fierce criticism of his support for Israel during his term, including disruptive protests that continued even as he increasingly took a harder stance with Israel’s government.
Republican voters, by contrast, largely back President Trump.
As multiple Western countries have moved to recognize a Palestinian state, Mr. Trump has placed little separation between himself and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.