For the first time, more Democrats side with Palestinians than Israelis: poll

For the first time ever, more Democrats support the Palestinian cause in the Middle East conflict — putting them at odds with both Republicans and the US at large, according to a new Gallup poll.

The poll found that 49% of Democrats said they sympathized more with the Palestinians than with the Israelis, while 38% said the opposite and 13% said they sympathized with both sides, neither side, or that they had no opinion .

Democratic affinity with the Palestinians has more than tripled over the past two decades from a low of 16% in 2003.

In contrast, party members’ support for the Israeli cause has fallen sharply from a peak of 58% in 2014.

The percentage of independents who support the Palestinians over the Israelis has risen 21 percentage points to 32% over the past 10 years, but a majority still supports the Israelis (49%) – although that number is down 14 percentage points from 2013 .

Republican stance on the conflict has remained relatively constant over the past two decades, with 78% pro-Israel and 11% pro-Palestinian.

GOP sympathy for the Israelis peaked at 87% in January 2018 before falling to 76% the next year and then rebounding to 86% in January 2020.

Overall, Americans sympathize with Israelis (54%), but their feelings for Palestinians (31%) are highest.

That 23-point gap marks the first time Israel hasn’t had a more than 2-to-1 advantage over the Palestinians among Americans, the poll shows.

Aside from political differences, Gallup also noted the generational differences in attitudes towards both groups.

Among the baby boomers (46 points), Generation X (32 points) and the silent generation – those born between 1928 and 1940 – (31 points), net positive feelings for Israelis are highest.

Millennials are divided, with 42% of this generation sympathetic to the Palestinians and 40% to the Israelis.

Gallup attributes the changing views of Israelis and Palestinians to the polarizing political climate, but also points to other reasons why Democrats have changed their views.

“The escalation of Israeli-Palestinian hostilities over the past year, resulting in high numbers of Palestinians killed, may partially explain the recent shift in the Democrats’ perspective,” it said.

“But Democrats’ waning religiosity may be a factor in the longer-term trend. Sympathy for Israel has historically been highly correlated with religion, with those who attend religious services on a weekly basis being much more sympathetic to Israelis than those who rarely or never attend.”