Americans view the Israeli government more negatively than they do the people of Israel and Palestine, Pew Research Center reports.
“Majorities of Americans express an unfavorable view of the Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority (which controls the West Bank) and Hamas (which has controlled Gaza). In recent years, negative views of the Israeli government have risen sharply, while views of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have changed little,” the research organization explained in a July 9 analysis.
Americans held Israelis in much higher esteem than they did Palestinians as recently as 2022, the report explains. “Following Hamas’ attack on Israel in October 2023 and the ensuing war, however, U.S. public opinion toward Israelis has grown increasingly negative, while views of Palestinians have not changed much. As a result, Americans now view the Palestinian people nearly as favorably as they view the Israeli people.”
Esteem for Israel has taken a hit since it invaded Gaza immediately after the Hamas attack. With an estimated 73,000 Palestinians killed in the action, Israel has been accused of genocide by the United Nations and numerous human rights groups.
While more Americans held favorable views of Israelis (52%) than unfavorable (42%) in the latest polling, both measures have trended in negative directions since 2019, when 64% viewed Israelis favorably and only 28% thought negatively about the population.
Meanwhile, the share of Americans with favorable attitudes toward Palestinians increased slightly during the past seven years, from 46% to 50%, while those harboring unfavorable opinions decreased from 45% to 44%.
The percentage of Americans with unfavorable views of Israel’s government rose from 43% in 2022 to 62% in 2026. The share with favorable attitudes dropped from 47% to 32% in the same span.
The upward shift in negativity toward the Palestinian Authority increased 1 point to 69% in the past three years, while those with positive attitudes about the Palestinian Authority dropped only a percentage point to 23%. Negative perceptions of Hamas remained steady at 84% during the last three years, while favorability increased from 8% to 10% in that span.
But Pew uncovered even less favorable views of Israel across a number of demographic categories: “Notably, views of the Israeli people and the Israeli government have worsened in recent years in both U.S. political parties, across age groups and in most religious categories.”
The survey found a 45-point difference in favorable attitudes about the Israeli government when measured by faith, with white evangelicals leading at 74% and Muslims at the bottom with 12%. Jewish people (47%), Catholics (34%) white Protestants (33%), Black Protestants (30%) and the religiously unaffiliated (17%) rounded out the category.
Jewish Americans, at 83%, far exceeded all other faith groups when asked if they hold favorable views of Israelis. They were followed by white evangelicals at 74%, white Protestants at 55%, Catholics at 51%, religiously unaffiliated people at 40% and Muslims at 26%, Pew said.
Inversely, Muslim Americans led in favorable views of the Palestinian Authority, with 50%. Next were Black Protestants at 31%, the religiously unaffiliated at 30%, Catholics and white Protestants at 20% and Jewish people at 10%.
The share of religious groups with favorable views of Palestinians was notably higher than for the Palestinian authority, with Muslims (78%) followed by religiously unaffiliated people (59%), Black Protestants (54%), Catholics (48%), white Protestants (45%), Jewish people (40%) and white evangelicals (33%).
Jewish adults age 50 and younger were less likely than older Jewish people to hold favorable attitudes toward the Israelis (76% vs. 88%) and of Israel’s government (41% vs. 52%), Pew said.
A connection between age and political affiliation also was detected in how favorably or unfavorably Americans view Israelis, Palestinians and their governments, according to Pew.
“U.S. adults under 30 express much more favorable views of the Palestinian people (58%) than of the Israeli people (32%). This pattern is driven largely by young Democrats, who are much more likely to express a positive view of Palestinians (72%) than of Israelis (26%),” the Pew report says.
Republicans under age 30, on the other hand, tend to view the two groups similarly, which is a departure from the past when young conservatives heavily favored Israelis.