The partisan divide in Americans' views of Israel has reached an all-time high, with 83% of Republicans holding a favorable opinion, compared to just 33% of Democrats. Among independents, 48% view Israel positively. Overall, 54% of Americans rate Israel favorably, a significant drop from previous years, according to a new Gallup poll released on Wednesday that annually examines the attitudes of the American public toward various countries around the world. According to the poll, Democrats are more sympathetic to Gaza and the Palestinian Authority (45%), Egypt (61%) and Cuba (55%) than to Israel.
The 50-point gap between Republicans and Democrats on Israel shatters the previous record of 30 points set last year, reflecting a sharp 14-point decline in Democrats' favorable views. This widening divide is nearly three times larger than the 18-point average difference between the two parties from 2001 to 2023.
Democrats' increasingly negative opinion of Israel is largely attributed to their opposition to the country’s actions during the Israel-Hamas war. The shift also coincides with former President Donald Trump’s strong support of Israel, including a recent meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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The poll, conducted between February 3 and 16, is part of a series of annual Gallup polls that aim to track the American public's views of various countries around the world. Along with the dramatic shift in attitudes toward Israel, the poll points to other differences between the parties in their attitudes toward other countries: While Democrats tend to hold more positive views of the Palestinian Authority and Gaza, Ukraine, and Mexico, Republicans tend to view Saudi Arabia and Russia in a more favorable light.In addition to Israel, there are sharp partisan divides in opinions of other countries. Republicans view Russia and Saudi Arabia more positively than Democrats, while Democrats rate Panama, France, India and Germany more favorably.
The opinions of political independents on Israel have also deteriorated since the war began in 2023. This year marks the first time that any political group has had a majority unfavorable view of Israel, with 60% of Democrats and 44% of independents expressing negative opinions.
As a result, Israel’s favorability rating among Americans has dropped to 54%, its lowest point since January 2000. The last time the country received worse ratings was in February 1992, when just 48% of Americans viewed Israel positively. The all-time low was 45% favorable in 1989.
Meanwhile, the favorable rating for the Palestinian Territories has increased to 32%, significantly higher than the 18% registered last year for the “Palestinian Authority.” While it remains unclear if the increase is due to more positive views of the Palestinian people, perhaps as a result of the cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war or the loss of thousands of Palestinian lives in the conflict, or if it is simply due to a change in the wording of the question, it represents a shift in public opinion.
This rating is nominally higher than any previous rating for the “Palestinian Authority,” although not significantly different from the 30% measured in 2021. All party groups rate the Palestinian Territories more positively than they did the Palestinian Authority last year, with increases ranging from 13% to 19%.
In other sectors, several countries are showing a higher positive rating among Americans this year than last year: Mexico (up 10%), Russia and China (both up 9%) and Canada (up 6%). Perhaps in the wake of Trump’s criticism of outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the “very positive” opinion of Canada among Republicans (15%) has fallen from 28% a year ago and is the lowest ever measured. However, the percentage of Democrats who view their northern neighbor very positively has remained stable and Canada remains widely popular. Positive opinion of Mexico is at a high with 67% support, second only to 2005, when 74% of Americans held positive views of their southern neighbor. Opinions of Mexico and China are improving across all party lines, though the increase for China is larger among Republicans and the increase for Mexico is larger among Democrats.
Republicans and Democrats had similar positive views on Ukraine as in previous years (84% support among Democrats, 54% among Republicans), but the survey was completed before Trump’s verbal attacks on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (“a mediocre comedian but a dictator who destroyed his country”). Over the past three years, Democrats’ views of Ukraine have become sharply more positive — a reflection of the Biden administration’s staunch support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, which entered its fourth year on February 24.