Alarming drop in US grass-roots support for Israel – poll

Grass-roots support for Israel in the United States is declining significantly, according to a poll published Tuesday by The Economist and YouGov, with nearly half of respondents saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be arrested while visiting the country and roughly half believing he is guilty of war crimes in the war against Hamas in Gaza.

The survey also highlighted the deep partisan divide over Israel, with Democrats being far more likely than Republicans to support Netanyahu's arrest and to blame him for damaging relations between Washington and Jerusalem.

The findings come as broader polling shows American attitudes toward Israel have become increasingly negative in recent years.

Forty-nine percent of those surveyed said Netanyahu should be arrested while in the United States based on the warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Another 27% said he should not be arrested, while 23% were unsure.

When respondents were asked whether they believed Netanyahu was guilty of war crimes in the prosecution of the war against Hamas in Gaza, around half said they believed he was, although analysts were quick to point out that the way a question is phrased in polls can make a big difference in how people respond.

While Netanyahu was visiting Washington this week, the poll asked respondents about his planned September trip to New York City for the UN General Assembly.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani made criticism of Israel and promises to arrest Netanyahu if he came to New York a central part of his election campaign. He later posted a video acknowledging that he lacked the legal authority to carry out such a move.

As a result, some analysts suggest the poll results may reflect opinions about Mamdani as well as Netanyahu.

Netanyahu has, in turn, harshly criticized Mamdani, along with prominent Jewish leaders in New York and elsewhere in the United States, for making the city's Jewish population feel unsafe.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu gave an interview with Fox News in which he accused the mayor of “turning them against New York Jews. I mean, what are we in, the 1930s?”

The survey also underscored the widening partisan divide over Israel. Among respondents who said Netanyahu should be arrested, 68% identified as Democrats, compared with 24% of Republicans and 55% of Independents.

Similarly, 61% of Democrats and 30% of Republicans said Netanyahu's actions had damaged relations between Washington and Jerusalem.

The findings also align with broader polling trends. An April survey by the Pew Research Center found that 60% of Americans held an unfavorable view of Israel. Republicans remained more likely than Democrats to view Israel favorably, but support declined among members of both parties compared with three years earlier.

The rising hostility toward Jews in Western countries, including the United States, has prompted growing numbers of Jewish families to consider making aliyah (Jewish immigration to Israel).

At the conclusion of the 2025 calendar year, Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, executive director of Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organization which helps American and Canadian Jews make aliyah, declared that “As we conclude the year, we are particularly encouraged to have reached a milestone of nearly 4,200 olim from North America. These olim underscore that aliyah is not solely a personal milestone, but a national and historic endeavor.”