Washington, Sep 18: At a moment of growing international alarm about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, more US adults view Israel’s military action in the Palestinian territory as excessive than at the beginning of the war, according to a new poll.
About half of Americans say the military response from Israel in the Gaza Strip has “gone too far,” according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That’s up from November 2023, when 40 per cent said Israel’s military action had gone too far. That AP-NORC poll was conducted shortly after Hamas started the conflict by launching an October 7, 2023, assault on Israel in which militants killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
But at the same time, Americans overall, particularly Republicans, are less likely to say that negotiating a ceasefire should be a high priority for the US government than they were just a few months ago when the US was holding ceasefire talks with Hamas.
The shift in American attitudes about Israel’s actions comes as Israel begins an expanded ground offensive on Gaza City. Israel is facing increased international scrutiny over its conduct in Gaza, with a team of independent experts commissioned by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council this week announcing it has concluded that Israel is committing genocide.
Israel has already destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced around 90 per cent of the population and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts announcing a famine in Gaza City. The Palestinian death toll has surpassed 65,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
“The level of innocent women and children suffering,” said Renee Hollier, of Lafayette, Louisiana, who described herself as a political independent and mother of a toddler. “There’s just no justification for this kind of suffering to continue.”
The AP-NORC poll of 1,183 adults was conducted September 11-15, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the US population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
Bipartisan uptick in views that Israel has gone too far’
The poll found a bipartisan uptick in Americans finding Israel’s military response has “gone too far.”
About 7 in 10 Democrats say this now, up from 58 per cent in November 2023. And roughly half of independents say the same, compared with about 4 in 10 in the earlier measure. Republicans have also moved slightly, from 18 per cent to 24 per cent.
Concern about overreach from Israel was high in January 2024, when 50 per cent of US adults said Israel had “gone too far,” but that fell slightly as the war continued.
And 45 per cent of US adults now say it’s “extremely” or “very” important for the US to provide humanitarian relief to Palestinians in Gaza, similar to Americans’ views at the start of the war but up slightly from 41 per cent in March.
Miguel Martinez, 55, of Miami, said it remains critical for President Donald Trump’s Republican administration to prioritize humanitarian relief even as it backs the Israeli military’s effort to defeat Hamas. Martinez supports Israel’s aim to defeat Hamas, but he’s concerned that the conflict is dragging on.
“Not everyone there is the enemy,” said Martinez, a Republican who said he broadly approves of Trump’s handling of the conflict. “Those people need help.”
Fewer say negotiating a ceasefire should be a high US priority
Despite the growing view that Israel has overstepped, Americans are less likely to consider it a high priority to negotiate a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas than they were when the Trump administration was heavily involved in negotiations. That downward shift is primarily driven by Republicans.
About half of US adults say it’s “extremely” or “very” important, down from 59 per cent in March but in line with views from last year. Republicans have grown less likely to say it’s “extremely” or “very” important for the U.S. to negotiate a permanent ceasefire since earlier in the year, while Democrats haven’t shifted.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the conflict will continue until Hamas is eliminated and the remaining hostages are released from captivity. Hamas has said its assault was in response to the more than decadelong blockade of Gaza, Israeli raids inside West Bank cities, increasing attacks by settlers on Palestinians and the growth of settlements.
In interviews, Americans across the political spectrum were dour about the prospects of the Trump administration mediating a lasting ceasefire. During the campaign, Trump pledged to quickly end the Israel-Hamas war as well as the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He’s struggled with both.
Approval of Trump’s handling of the conflict is down slightly among U.S. adults to 37 per cent, compared with 44 per cent in March.
“There’s an all-or-nothing attitude on both sides,” Martinez said of Israel and Hamas. “Any resolution, any ceasefire, it’s hard to see it being anything more than temporary.”
Netanyahu last week approved an audacious strike targeting Hamas officials in the Gulf emirate of Qatar, an operation that killed six people but that Hamas claims failed to kill any of the group’s leaders. The attack also threatened to upend months of ceasefire diplomacy mediated by Qatar, which has served as an intermediary with Hamas.
Democrats are more likely to prioritize negotiations on an independent Palestinian state
Larry Kapenstein, 71, a Democrat from Middletown, Pennsylvania, said he’s worried about the conflict’s long-term ramifications for Israel’s economy and standing in the world.
“I side with Israel, and I think they’re in the right in this, but I think Netanyahu has just taken this too far,” Kapenstein said. “There’s got to be a better way.”
About 3 in 10 US adults said it is “extremely” or “very” important to negotiate the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, unchanged from January 2024. But that belief is especially pronounced among Democrats: About half now say this is highly important, up from 41 per cent in 2024. That compares with 19 per cent of independents and 14 per cent of Republicans.
The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly last week to support a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict and urge Israel to commit to a Palestinian state, a move that Netanyahu vehemently opposed and that the US was one of the 10 countries to vote against.
Support for military aid for Israel falls
The survey also found slightly less support for military aid for Israel.
About 2 in 10 US adults said it is “extremely” or “very” important for the US to provide aid to Israel’s military to fight Hamas, down from 36 per cent at the war’s start. The decline has been particularly dramatic among Democrats, from 30% at the beginning of the war to 15 per cent now.
Lehks Wright, 50, of Albany, Georgia, who is an independent, said it’s difficult to justify spending billions of dollars backing Israel’s military when the Trump administration is calling for sweeping cuts in federal spending on health care and other social programs.
“If you’re going to say we’re in a deficit and there’s government bloat, and I am not doubting that, then cut spending on other countries, too,” Wright said.
