Israel and Gaza: Conflict that Divides America

Since early October of 2023, Israel has been bombarding the Gaza strip with military strikes, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children.  These actions have resulted in protests all over the world demanding a ceasefire, and voicing support for the Palestinian people.  A temporary ceasefire was brokered, however this has all but resulted in further military action from Israel.  Almost 100 people have been killed in the latest series of attacks on Gaza, and there seems to be no sign of this trend slowing.  Gaza has been under horrendous humanitarian crises over the course of the war, with homes being destroyed and lack of access to food and drinkable water.  Israel's blockade on aid to Gaza has been the primary culprit of these dire conditions-the United Nations and several countries have called for the blockade to be lifted.  In response, Israel claims the blockade is a tactic to implore Hamas to release Israeli hostages.  This conflict has divided opinion in the United States.  The U.S. is a key ally to Israel, but domestic opinion on the issue varies significantly.

Public opinion regarding Israel has taken a negative turn in recent times.  Over half of Americans hold an unfavorable view of Israel as of 2025, whereas in 2022 only around 42% of Americans viewed Israel negatively.  The conflict as a whole is becoming less important for many Americans, and their views on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are overwhelmingly negative.  This suggests that, despite the status quo stance the United States government takes with regards to Israel and its objectives, regardless of who the President is at any particular time, Israel is becoming less popular among the general population.  Of course, there are exceptions among certain groups.  Jewish Americans are far more likely to say the conflict is of personal importance to them, and hold more favorable views of Israel.  Americans who are registered Democrats are more likely to hold a negative view than those registered Republican.  Muslim Americans are more likely to say the conflict is important to them, and have a larger share of negative views on Israel.  Evangelicals also tend to have a higher opinion of Israel, though opinion has dropped than in years past.

Multiple factors play into one's views about the conflict and Israel itself.  This is an important aspect of the dynamics to understand since the general opinion of Israel among the American public is in stark contrast to the position the American government takes on the global stage.  Benjamin Netanyahu was invited to speak before Congress, and although a large amount of Democrats voiced opposition to his speech, some even boycotting it altogether, it continued as planned.  Despite this, the Biden Administration continued to funnel weapons to Israel, and welcome Netanyahu with open arms.

These issues are extraordinarily sensitive.  Many claim that criticism of Israel is anti-semitism, although this is very clearly not true.  Anti-semitism is a real problem, and it must be condemned in the strongest possible terms, just like any other form of bigotry or racism should be condemned.  However, pointing to the crimes that the Israeli government have committed against the Palestinian people is not anti-semitism.  Many Republican politicians claim criticism of Israel as anti-semitism, yet conveniently omit clear anti-semitism on the far right.  It is time for the United States government to truly answer to the people, since it is clear most Americans do not support Israel's conquest of Gaza.  The U.S. should discontinue its support of it as a result.



Sources

Abualouf, Rushdi, Yolande Knell, Mallory Moench. “Nearly 100 People Killed in Israeli Attack on Gaza - Hamas-Run Civil Defence.” BBC News, May 16, 2025. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crr704wwklgo.

Silver, Laura. “How Americans View Israel and the Israel-Hamas War at the Start of Trump’s Second Term.” Pew Research Center, April 8, 2025. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/04/08/how-americans-view-israel-and-the-israel-hamas-war-at-the-start-of-trumps-second-term/.

Susskind, Hadar, and Y.L. al-Sheikh. “A Diminished Netanyahu Meets Growing Protest in Congress.” CIP, July 25, 2024. https://internationalpolicy.org/publications/a-diminished-netanyahu-meets-growing-protest-in-congress/.

   

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