US support for Israel reaches new low: Only 32% approve Gaza War, 29% approve of PM Netanyahu

With hostage-ceasefire talks stalled, and a growing movement in Europe willing to recognize a Palestinian state, a survey released on Tuesday by analytics firm Gallup shows that U.S. support for the war in Gaza has reached a new low since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023. 

The survey shows a drop of 10 percentage points compared to the last survey by Gallup in September of 2024, and the lowest support rating since the firm began polling about the war in November 2023. 

While the initial polling found around 50% of respondents supported the war effort, by early 2024 that had already changed significantly. Since then, support for the war has flagged, with each survey showing a greater disapproval of the war effort than support for it. 

The disapproval rating among respondents was 60%, and is largely driven by Democrat and independent respondents, who showed a 16-point drop in approval since the previous survey.

While independents tend to have a higher approval rating for the war than Democrats, both groups trail behind Republican respondents, who expressed an approval rating of 71% for Israel’s war effort in Gaza. This marks an increase in Republican approval since the last survey. 

The survey also shows a worrying trend for Israel, in that only 1-in-10 respondents under the age of 35 expressed support for the Gaza war, compared to almost 50% of respondents over the age of 55, regardless of party affiliation. 

The survey, which was conducted between July 7-21, also asked about support for the 12-day Operation Rising Lion war against Iran. Approval for that operation was slightly higher among the respondents than for the Gaza war, with 38% expressing support. 

As with the Gaza war, support for the war largely ran along party lines: 78% of Republican respondents expressed support for the Iran conflict, 31% of Independents expressed support, while only 12% of Democrats did so. 

The survey was conducted during a time when significant attention by international media was being focused on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including the use of misleading images, which led to increasing pressure on Israel to change its humanitarian aid strategy. 

Additionally, Gallup also polled the respondents regarding their opinion of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The polling took place during Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, D.C., on the heels of the Israel-Iran war, in which the U.S. had supported Israel with air defense systems and by bombing three of Iran’s nuclear sites, including two heavily fortified sites at Isfahan and Fordow. 

Despite the increased media coverage surrounding Netanyahu during the days of the polling, only 29% of respondents expressed a favorable opinion of the prime minister, with 52% expressing disapproval. 

As with support for the Gaza war, a favorable opinion of Netanyahu was higher among Republicans than among Democrats or independents, with 67% of Republican respondents saying they have a favorable view of Netanyahu, compared to 19% of independents and 9% of Democrats. 

Republican opinion regarding Netanyahu remains about the same as it was during 2019, which was the last time Gallup surveyed the issue before the Oct. 7 war. Support for Netanyahu was weaker among the younger generations and increased with age, regardless of party affiliation.