Half of adults in new poll support Israel’s action in Gaza, 45 percent disapprove

Americans are divided on whether they support Israel’s military action in Gaza, according to a poll released Thursday.

Half of adults in the Gallup poll said they support Israel’s response in the wake of militant group Hamas’s attack last month, while 45 percent disapprove. The survey also found that views on the Israel-Hamas war diverge more among certain subgroups — including political affiliation, age, race and gender.

Broken down by party, Republicans were more likely to support Israel’s response. A majority of Republicans — 71 percent — said they supported Israel’s actions in Gaza, in comparison to just 31 percent of Democrats.

About 23 percent of Republicans and 63 percent of Democrats said they do not support Israel’s military response in Gaza, the poll found. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry has reported that more than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting so far.

Younger Americans were also more likely to disapprove of Israel’s subsequent strikes after the Oct. 7 surprise attack, which killed than 1,200 Israelis dead.

Sixty-four percent of adults aged 18-34 said they disapproved of Israel’s decisions in Gaza. Half of those aged 35-54, and 63 percent of those 55 and older, said they approved.

White adults were also more likely to back Israel’s moves compared to Americans of color, the poll found; 61 percent of white adults said they supported Israel’s response, while just 30 percent of people of color said the same.

Men were also more likely to voice their support for Israel than women, with 59 percent of men backing Israel in the war, compared to 44 percent of women. Thirty-seven percent of men and 52 percent of women said they disapproved of Israel’s military actions.

The poll also found that most Americans supported both military aid to Israel and humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Forty-two percent said the U.S. is providing enough military aid, while 25 percent said the U.S. is not doing enough. About 31 percent said the U.S. is doing too much.

When it comes to humanitarian aid for Gaza, 34 percent said the U.S. is giving the right amount, 40 percent said it is not enough and 22 percent said it was too much, according to the survey.

The poll was conducted Nov. 1-21 among 1,013 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.