Democrats and Republicans hold wildly different views on Israel, Ukraine and Mexico, according to new data from Gallup.
When asked to rate their views of countries as either negative or positive, Americans diverge the most on views of Israel, with 83% of Republicans expressing a positive view, compared to only 33% of Democrats and 48% of independents. Nationwide, 54% percent of Americans rate Israel positively.
That 50-point gap between Republican and Democratic views of Israel is a new record, according to Jeffrey Jones of Gallup. The gap grew from 30 points the prior year to 50 points this year.
“The current gap is also nearly three times larger than the average 18-point difference that existed between 2001 and 2023,” Jones said. “Over this time, Republicans have consistently viewed Israel more favorably than Democrats have.
“The widening partisan gap likely reflects Democrats’ opposition to Israel’s actions in the Israel-Hamas war. It could also be a reaction to Trump’s strong backing of Israel, highlighted in his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.”
Political independents’ opinions of Israel have also worsened significantly since the war started in 2023.
“This year marks the first time any party group has had majority-level unfavorable ratings of Israel, with 60% of Democrats expressing that view,” Jones said. “Forty-four percent of independents also have an unfavorable opinion of Israel.”
Partisans also hold significantly different views on Ukraine and Mexico. Gallup’s polling was conducted in February 2025, before Trump’s off-the-rails meeting in the Oval Office with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Gallup found a 30-point gap between Republicans’ and Democrats’ views on Ukraine, with 84% of Democrats expressing a favorable view of the country and 54% of Republicans sharing that view. Independents align more closely with Republicans on this question, with 56% viewing Ukraine positively.
“Before 2023, Republicans and Democrats had similarly positive views of Ukraine,” Jones noted. “But in the past three years, Democrats’ opinions of Ukraine have become sharply more favorable. This could reflect the Biden administration’s staunch support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.”
When Gallup first asked about Ukraine in 2005, long before tensions with Russia escalated, Republicans viewed it more favorably than Democrats.
Views on Mexico also vary by party affiliation, Gallup found. While 83% of Democrats and 70% of independents hold favorable views of Mexico, only 47% of Republicans do.
The last time this gap was so large was in 2017, when Trump had just taken the White House the first time. Gallup found a 37-point difference then. A 35-point gap was recorded in 2023.
As recently as 2005, Republicans and Democrats were closely aligned on views of Mexico, with 73% of Republicans and 75% of Democrats holding favorable views. Both parties’ views of Mexico began to slide in the same direction the next year, but there was a rebound among Democrats in 2012 that was only briefly matched by Republicans.
In addition to these highlights, gaps exceeding 20 points separate views of the Palestinian Territories, Cuba and Colombia. Democrats rate each of these five countries more positively than Republicans. In addition to Israel, Republicans also have substantially more positive views of Russia and Saudi Arabia than Democrats. Democrats’ favorable ratings of Panama, France, India and Germany are 10 points higher than those of Republicans.
These results are based on Gallup’s annual World Affairs survey, conducted Feb. 3-16.