US disapproval of Israel hits an all-time high

New York, USA. 13th Mar, 2026. Members of Neturei Karta who are ultraOrthodox, antiZionist Jews, hold placards at a rally on Al Quds Day in Times Square. On Al Quds Day, demonstrators in New York City demanded freedom for Palestine and opposed the United States and Israels war against Iran. Al Quds Day occurs on the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. On this day, protests take place worldwide against Israels settlement of Palestine. Image © Jimin Kim SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire. Image ID 3E0X5MW

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Julia Conley

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Public support for Israel in the United States has dropped sharply, with younger voters driving a significant shift that could reshape future politics.

The bipartisan support Israel and its powerful lobby have enjoyed for decades in the US – with lawmakers from both parties insisting the federal government must help Israel “defend itself” with nearly $4 billion per year in military aid – is likely to shift considerably in the coming years as public support for the country continues to collapse, particularly among young voters, in the latest Pew Research poll.

The survey was taken last month as the US-Israeli war on Iran, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly pitched to President Donald Trump in an unusual Situation Room meeting in February, was escalating and spreading across the Middle East. It found that overall, 60 per cent of US adults had an unfavourable view of Israel.

That share has grown considerably since 2022, before Israel began its US-backed war on the population of Gaza in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack. That year, just 42 per cent in the US viewed Israel unfavourably.

Public opposition to the country’s government has also gone up by seven percentage points since last year, according to Pew. The share of adults who describe themselves as having a “very unfavourable” view of Israel has gone up by 9 per cent since 2025 and has nearly tripled since before Israel began waging war on Gaza.

Journalist Prem Thakker commented that it was “absurd” to continue providing a country that a sizeable majority of Americans disapprove of with military funding.

Over the past two-and-a-half years – as US public support for Israel has steadily declined – that funding has helped Israel to kill more than 72,000 Palestinians; injure more than 172,000; displace more than 90 per cent of Gaza’s population; carry out nearly 800 attacks on the healthcare system, damaging 94 per cent of hospitals; damage or destroy 97 per cent of school buildings; and impose a mass starvation policy through a blockade on humanitarian aid. Israeli officials have publicly called for the killing of 50 Palestinians for every Israeli killed in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks, for Gaza to be burned to the ground, and for Israelis to “remember what Amalek has done to you,” a reference to the Israelites’ enemies in the Old Testament, whom King Saul was ordered to massacre.

All the while, Israeli officials and bipartisan US lawmakers who continue to support the Israeli government – and take donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and other influential pro-Israel lobbying groups – have accused Americans who have spoken out against Israel’s genocidal attacks on Gaza of being antisemitic.

In the poll released by Pew, the shift away from support for Israel is most pronounced among voters aged 18-49, with 70 per cent of respondents in that age bracket reporting unfavourable views. Majorities of both Democrats (84 per cent) and Republicans (57 per cent) under 50 had unfavourable views. In 2025, just 50 per cent of Republicans under 50 viewed Israel negatively, while 71 per cent of young Democrats said the same – representing a 13-point jump in just a year among the latter group.

Americans’ views on Netanyahu have also grown more negative, with 59 per cent of respondents saying they did not trust the prime minister to do the right thing in terms of world affairs – up from 53 per cent last year.

The poll was released as Israel continued its assault on Lebanon, which it began attacking in March after Hezbollah retaliated against Israeli forces for the US-Israeli killing of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israeli officials claim the two-week ceasefire reached between the US, Israel, and Iran does not include Lebanon, despite statements from Pakistan, which helped broker the deal declaring otherwise.

Israel has killed more than 1,400 people in Lebanon in the last month, in addition to striking Iran along with the US in attacks that have killed more than 2,000 people.

The Pew survey was released days after a poll by the IMEU Policy Project and Data for Progress found that among Democratic primary voters in Texas, the US relationship with Israel was not seen as an abstract foreign policy issue, but one that significantly impacted how many chose between US Senate candidate James Talarico and his primary opponent, US Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas).

The poll found that Talarico gained a 4-to-1 advantage over Crockett when he spoke out against providing US weapons to Israel. Nearly 90 per cent of respondents agreed with his stance, and 44 per cent of his supporters said his position deeply influenced their vote.

“Democrats,” said political operative Isi Baehr-Breen in response to the poll of Talarico supporters, “are gonna have to choose between Israel and winning elections.”

 

Republished from Common Dreams on 8 April, 2026

Julia Conley

Julia Conley is a staff writer for Common Dreams.

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