Americans' sympathies are moving away from Israel and towards Palestinians, a poll has found, with 41 per cent saying they sympathise more with Palestinians and 36 per cent with Israelis.
According to Gallup, for more than 20 years – 2001 to 2025 – Israelis "consistently held double-digit leads" in Americans' Middle East sympathies, although public opinion began to narrow in 2019.
The latest poll marks a change from last year, when 46 per cent expressed more sympathy with Israelis and 33 per cent with Palestinians.
"US public opinion toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has shifted in the past 12 months, and for the first time in Gallup’s annual measurement since 2001, Americans’ sympathies no longer lie more with the Israelis than the Palestinians," the report said. "This shift reflects substantial movement among independents now joining Democrats in expressing more sympathy for the Palestinian people."
It comes as a ceasefire continues to hold in Gaza, more than two years after a Hamas attack led Israel to engage in a punishing campaign in Gaza that left more than 72,000 dead. Despite the ceasefire, which was enacted in October, Israel continues to carry out strikes across the enclave, killing hundreds.
Younger Americans tend to have more sympathy for Palestinians, according to the poll, but older people are also becoming less sympathetic towards Israel.
As to political party, Democrats have traditionally expressed more sympathy for Palestinians, but Independents are now also shifting away from Israel.
Republicans, meanwhile, continue to sympathise much more with Israel over Palestine, but a downwards trend began with the start of the 2023 Gaza war and it is at its lowest point since 2004.
Americans still have a more favourable view of Israel, as a country, than of the Palestinian territories, the poll showed.
But most – 57 per cent – said they favour a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, with the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Americans remain much more supportive of a two-state solution than Israelis or Palestinians, however, according to Gallup’s World Poll last year, which showed 27 per cent of Israelis and 33 per cent of Palestinians said they would support a two-state solution.
