A majority of Americans now disapprove of Israel’s ongoing military action against Hamas in Gaza, a new Gallup poll suggests, marking a notable drop in support since the war began last fall. According to the survey, 55 percent of the American public believes that the five-month campaign has gone too far, leading to amplified calls for Israel to consider a ceasefire.
After gathering data from 1,016 American adults in early March, Gallup determined that disapproval rates have jumped by roughly 10 points since the last public survey in November. The previous poll, conducted just one month after the deadly October 7th Hamas attacks claimed the lives of 1,200 Israeli citizens, found that just over 50 percent backed Israel’s retaliatory strikes. In the intervening time, that support has dropped to 36 percent.
Nine percent of respondents in the latest poll had no opinion on the matter, up from four percent in November.
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Broken down by political affiliation, the numbers reflected significant differences in attitudes between parties—but support has declined in every group.
Support for Israel among Democrats fell from 36 percent in November to just 18 percent in March, with 63 percent against. Independents, who were evenly split on the issue in the fall, now report majority opposition to further military action.
While Republicans are still largely committed to the Israeli cause, support has fallen on the right side of the aisle as well, dropping from 71 percent last year to 64 percent this month.
The Gallup survey was conducted before a United Nations resolution on Monday demanding a ceasefire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in exchange for Hamas releasing all Israeli hostages. Fourteen non-permanent members of the UN Security Council backed the motion, and the United States abstained from the vote, which allowed the resolution to pass. The US had previously vetoed four other ceasefire proposals.
In protest of the decision, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a planned Israeli delegation to Washington, DC that, according to White House officials, was intended to discuss Israel’s planned invasion of the Gazan city of Rafah. This marked the latest breakdown in cooperation between Netanyahu and the Biden administration over the developing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
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According to the latest numbers from the Gaza Health Ministry (which does not differentiate between Hamas combatants and civilians), Israeli air and ground strikes have killed 32,490 Palestinians since October.
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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