Most Americans back Israel in Hamas war, Democrats deeply divided: poll

While a clear majority of American voters support Israel in its ongoing war against Hamas, Democrats and young Americans are split over where to place their sympathies.

Almost a quarter of Democrats (24%) said they sympathized more with the Palestinian people than their Israeli counterparts, according to a Wall Street Journal poll released Monday.

Just 17% of Democrats said they sympathized more with Israelis, while 48% had equal sympathy for both sides.

Democrats under 50 had even more pronounced pro-Palestinian sympathies — 35% compared to 13% more sympathetic to Israelis, per the poll. Among Democrats over 50, Israelis drew more sympathy by 22% to 12%.

“There is a schism between younger Democrats and older Democrats in where their sympathies lie,” said Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio, who conducted the WSJ survey with Democratic pollster Michael Bocian. “It has the potential to become a modern-day Vietnam for the Democrats.”

In all, 55% of Americans said Israel was taking appropriate military action to defend itself and prevent Hamas from attacking again. A quarter of Americans (25%) said Israel was going too far in its response to the Oct. 7 terror attack by Hamas, while 20% said they didn’t know or refused to answer.

On the sympathy question, 42% of Americans said they sympathized more with Israelis and just 12% said they felt more sorry for the Palestinians. A third of Americans said they felt sorry for both sides equally.

However, the gap was narrower among Americans between the ages of 18 and 34, 31% of whom sympathized with Israelis and 23% of whom sympathized with Palestinians. Another 31% said they sympathized with both parties in the conflict.

“I think the war clearly has been very harmful, not just among progressives, not just among Democrats,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.

“At the end of the day, I think Biden’s gonna win this election. But what’s going on now is not helpful.”

The WSJ poll is in lockstep with other recent surveys showing a deep chasm on the left over the latest Middle Eastern war.

A CBS News/YouGov poll released Sunday found that the proportion of Democrats who believe President Biden has shown Israel too much support jumped to 38% from 28% in October.

In the Wall Street Journal poll, more than two-thirds (69%) of Republicans expressed more sympathy for Israelis, while just 2% were more sympathetic to Palestinians and 17% said they sympathized with both equally.

The survey also found majority disapproval (52%) of Biden’s handling of the Middle East war, while just 37% said they approved.

The poll also found just 37% also approved of Biden’s overall work while in office while 61% disapproved.

The WSJ poll was conducted among 1,500 registered voters from Nov. 29 to Dec. 4. It carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.