According to a poll released Thursday by Gallup, for the first time in its history of polling American attitudes toward Israelis and Palestinians, Democrats are more sympathetic to Palestinians than to Israelis. While a number of factors could explain the shift, the most likely reason should be obvious: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The right-wing Israeli leader has opted to burn his bridges with Democrats and openly root for the Republican Party in general and former President Donald Trump in particular. His partisan attitude, combined with the increasing violence Jewish settlers are perpetrating against Palestinians, helps explain why what was once solidly bipartisan support for Israel is becoming more fractured and nuanced.
Gallup’s new poll finds that, overall, “sympathy toward the Palestinians among U.S. adults is at a new high of 31%” and that Democrats’ “sympathies in the Middle East now lie more with the Palestinians than the Israelis, 49% versus 38%,” an 11-point shift since last year.
Support for the Palestinians ticked up among independents, as well, hitting a new high of 32%, though 49% “still lean towards the Israelis.” It’s worth noting that support for the Israelis among Republicans remains mostly unchanged. According to Gallup, 78% of GOP voters side with the Israelis, compared to just 11% who back the Palestinians.
Americans’ increased sympathy, according to Gallup, isn’t accompanied by a newfound love of the ruling Palestinian Authority. (The poll finds that Americans still “view Israel much more favorably than they do the Palestinian Authority, 68% versus 26%.”) Rather, partisan shifts and the decline in undecideds (only 15% of respondents now favor neither side) explain the narrowing of the gap in support for the Israelis and Palestinians over the last year.
Until recently, support for Israel was a largely bipartisan affair in Washington. A two-state solution and a goal of a peaceful resolution to the…
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