Americans Sharply Divided by Age Over Support for Israel, Poll Finds

A new poll about the Israel-Hamas war found a 29 percentage point divide between older and younger Americans on support for Israel.

Recent polling for the Napolitan News Service of 1,000 registered voters comes as President Donald Trump hopes to end that war in the Middle East. Trump last month hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, where they talked about Arab countries taking Palestinian refugees and the future of Gaza. 

Sixty-six percent of senior citizens polled consider Israel an ally, whereas only 37% of younger voters do. While no senior citizens surveyed viewed Israel as America’s enemy, 16% of younger voters (under 35) regarded that country as an enemy.

The poll also found that 40% of respondents expressed support for the state of Israel in the conflict, and overall, 52% of voters polled consider Israel an ally, whereas only 5% see it as an enemy.

Voters were also divided by age regarding Palestinian groups. Among senior citizens, only 3% supported the Palestinians as allies, whereas 42% saw them as enemies. Younger voters were more closely divided: 26% saw the groups as allies, whereas 20% viewed them as enemies. 

Supporters of Israel have been sounding the alarm about the bias of social media algorithms in favor of anti-Israel positions for some time now. There is even evidence that the Chinese government has directed TikTok to amplify anti-Israel content on the app to sow dissent in the United States. 

There has also been a shift in Americans’ perceptions of the two major political parties on where they stand on the issue of support for Israel. Thirty-seven percent of voters surveyed now think Republicans are more supportive of Jewish Americans than Democrats. Twenty-six percent think that Democrats are more supportive. That is a significant shift in opinion, compared with this past September, when respondents were almost evenly divided. Thirty-one percent of voters thought Republicans were more supportive, while 33% said Democrats were more supportive. 

Republicans have taken the initiative to confront antisemitism on college campuses, most notably with Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., questioning the presidents of major universities at a congressional hearing. And Republican-aligned organizations, such as the Conservative Political Action Committee, have attempted to dissociate from any antisemitic influencers.

The Daily Signal reached out to William Jacobson, a professor of law at Cornell Law School who has spoken out against the “Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions” movement against Israel on college campuses. 

“There clearly is a gap in support for Israel between younger groups and most other age groups, but the data is not consistent or conclusive. Younger voters tend to be more left-leaning, and the question always is whether and how they will change as they age,” Jacobson told The Daily Signal.

“That said, it is clear that the gross demonization and dehumanization of Israel by faculty, the media, the entertainment industry, and particularly on social media are having an impact. Israel is the object of hate, but the hate really is for our own society, for capitalism, and for Western civilization,” Jacobson told The Daily Signal.

“The combination of the Left and Islamists (the ‘red-green alliance’) is not new, but has gained momentum as the education system from kindergarten through professional schools has been captured by ideologies such as intersectionality, critical race theory, and decolonization,” he said.

A spokesman for American Israel Public Affairs Committee told The Daily Signal, “Americans overwhelmingly stand with our democratic ally, Israel, as it shares our strategic interests and moral values. Israel’s enemies are America’s enemies, and that is why our country strongly supports providing the Jewish state the necessary resources to defend against Iran and its terrorist proxies.”

The Daily Signal asked Jacobson what he thought was the best way supporters of Israel could change Americans minds on the issue.

“The way to best defend Israel is to defend our own values, and our own society, against these attempts to tear us down,” Jacobson said. 

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