Just 33% of Democrats have a favorable view of Israel, Gallup poll finds

83% of Republicans view Israel favorably — an unprecedented partisan gap of 50 points.

By Ben Sales February 26, 2025

https://www.jta.org/2025/02/26/politics/just-33-of-democrats-have-a-favorable-view-of-israel-gallup-poll-finds?preview_id=1879475

Just a third of Democrats have a favorable view of Israel, a steep decline from just a few years ago, according to a Gallup poll.

That’s in contrast to 83% of Republicans who view Israel favorably — a partisan gap of 50 points. Responding to the results, Jewish Democratic leaders said they remained confident in their party’s pro-Israel bona fides — though one sounded notes of caution. Jewish Republicans celebrated the poll.

The poll, published on Monday, is the latest stark sign that Democrats are losing their love for Israel. Previous polls taken during the Israel-Hamas war have shown that Democrats are more likely than Republicans to blame Israel for the fighting and to be more sympathetic to the Palestinians than to the Israelis.

And the gap in this week’s poll shows that, after decades during which Israel was seen as a bipartisan issue, there is now a chasm between how voters from both parties view the country. The poll’s analysis attributed the gap to the Israel-Hamas war as well as polarization over President Donald Trump.

“The 50 points separating Republican and Democratic positivity toward Israel shatters the prior record of 30 points measured last year,” the Gallup page says. “The widening partisan gap likely reflects Democrats’ opposition to Israel’s actions in the Israel-Hamas war. It could also be a reaction to Trump’s strong backing of Israel, highlighted in his meeting with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House earlier this month.”

The poll demonstrates that, in the span of three years, Democratic favorability ratings for Israel have plummeted 30 points. In 2022, 63% of Democrats viewed Israel favorably. The number dropped to 56% in 2023 and 47% in 2024 — following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and the ensuing war in Gaza — before falling to 33% this year.

The percentage of independents who view Israel favorably has also plunged in that time, from 71% in 2022 to 48% this year. The Republican numbers have remained about level during that time, going from 81% to 83%.

Sixty percent of Democrats have an unfavorable view of Israel, the first time most of a partisan group has felt that way. Among independents, the unfavorable figure was 44%. Gallup did not share unfavorable numbers for Republicans.

“There’s no question Israel’s image has suffered among both Democrats and independents over the course of the war, and that’s a fact and its a problem,” said Mark Mellman, president of the Democratic Majority for Israel advocacy group. “Theres a fight going on in the Democratic Party. It’s a hard fight.”

Asked what she makes of the declining numbers, Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, attributed the drop to negative opinions of Netanyahu, who has embraced Trump’s proposals.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu’s close alignment with Donald Trump has clouded the way some see Israel,” she said in a statement. “While Netanyahu is undoubtedly a polarizing figure, Jewish Democrats know that the U.S.-Israel relationship transcends any individual leader.”

But both Soifer and Mellman pointed to reasons they were optimistic, mentioning the large majority of Democratic officials who are pro-Israel. Soifer also noted the Jewish vote in last year’s presidential election, which went solidly for Vice President Kamala Harris. She accused Trump of “using and manipulating the [U.S.-Israel] relationship to further his own agenda.”

“Democratic leaders have never wavered in their support of Israel — including their initiation and support of historic levels of military aid to Israel during the Biden administration,” she said. “The vast majority of Jewish Americans are both Democrats and pro-Israel, and proudly support a U.S.-Israel relationship that transcends any individual leader, whether they be in the U.S. or Israel.”

Mellman, who is also a pollster, cited a poll his firm conducted ahead of the Democratic convention last year, in which 62% of Democrats said the United States should support Israel, versus just 7% who opted for Hamas — numbers close to the national average.

“Jews still consider the Democratic party to be a pro-Israel party, and they’re right — we had a pro-Israel platform, we had a pro-Israel Democratic president until this year,” he said. “There’s no question that the Democratic Party remains pro-Israel.”

The Republican Jewish Coalition begged to differ — pointing to an increasing Jewish Republican vote share, if still a minority, in the 2024 election.

“President Donald J. Trump received a historic share of the Jewish vote in 2024, as Democrats continue to hemorrhage support from the American Jewish community,” the group tweeted above a graph of the poll. “The numbers don’t lie: there is only ONE pro-Israel party, and it is the GOP.”