Pew poll: 13% of young Americans view Hamas favorably, declining support for Israel

A new Pew Research Center survey released Thursday found that 13% of Americans ages 18 to 29 have a favorable view of the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip, down from 18% in 2025 and 14% in 2024. The survey also found declining support for the Israeli government, particularly among young Democrats, reflecting broader shifts in U.S. public opinion since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

The survey was conducted in May among 12,574 American adults.

Among Democrats under 30, 62% now hold an unfavorable view of the Israeli government, up from 43% in 2022, before Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. The survey indicates that young Democrats have viewed Hamas more favorably than the Israeli government since the terror attack, which killed about 1,200 people in Israel.

Views of Hamas varied significantly by age, political affiliation and religion. While 13% of adults ages 18-29 expressed a favorable opinion of Hamas, the figure fell to 11% among those ages 30-49 and 6% among adults ages 50-64. Overall, 13% of Democrats and 6% of Republicans said they viewed Hamas favorably.

The survey also found notable differences across religious groups. Forty-four percent of Muslim Americans reported a favorable view of Hamas, up seven percentage points from the 2024 Pew survey. By comparison, 4% of Protestants and 2% of Jewish Americans expressed favorable views of the group.

The findings come as broader U.S. attitudes toward Israel have shifted in recent years. In 2022, before the current war, 67% of Americans viewed Israel positively, while 25% held an unfavorable view of the country. In the latest survey, positive views of Israel had declined to 52%, while unfavorable views had risen to 42%.

The Pew results are broadly consistent with other recent polling. A Gallup survey released in February found that, for the first time, more Americans said their sympathies lay with the Palestinians than with Israel. In that poll, 41% said they sympathized more with the Palestinians, compared with 36% who said they sympathized more with Israel.

Support for Israelis remains stronger among Republicans than Democrats. According to the Pew survey, 65% of Republicans expressed favorable views of Israelis, compared with 43% of Democrats. However, support for Israelis has declined across the political spectrum over the past three years.

The divide is particularly evident among younger Americans. Among younger Republicans, favorable views of Israelis and Palestinians are now roughly equal at about 40% each. Among Republicans under 30, 58% expressed favorable views of Palestinians, compared with 32% for Israelis. The gap is even wider among Democrats under 30, where 72% expressed favorable views of Palestinians, while 26% expressed favorable views of Israelis.

Overall, the survey suggests that while support for Israel remains strongest among Republicans, younger Americans across the political spectrum are increasingly expressing more favorable views of Palestinians and less favorable views of Israel and its government than in previous years.