Hawzah News Agency- According to a Pew Research poll published on Tuesday, 53 percent of Americans now express an unfavourable opinion of Israel, up from 42 percent in March 2022 - before the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel and Israel’s decimation of the enclave.

Democrats are still more likely than Republicans to express a negative opinion of Israel by 69 percent to 37 percent, respectively. But the number of Republicans who hold negative opinions on Israel has increased 10 percentage points since 2022.

Young Republicans, those under the age of 50, especially, are now more likely to have an unfavourable view of Israel, with 50 percent polling in that direction. That gap underscores the rise of popular alternative conservative media voices like Candice Owens and Tucker Carlson, who have become more open to challenging Israel.

Among Democrats, those with a negative view of Israel has also grown. The 69 percent of Democrats with that view marks a 16 percent increase since 2022, when 53 percent of Democrats viewed Israel unfavourably.

A majority of Americans across every demographic on both sides, with the exception of Republicans aged 18-49, agree that Israel's war on Gaza was both "personally" important to them and US interests.

Jewish Americans have been moving away from Israel in recent years. This trend picked up over domestic differences within Israel over the country’s Supreme Court but has been turbocharged since the war in Gaza erupted. However, at least 73 percent of Jewish Americans still hold a favourable view of Israel.

Muslim Americans hold the strongest unfavourable views of Israel, with 81 percent against and just 19 percent viewing Israel favourably.

The poll was conducted just before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House earlier this week. His trip came amid rising tensions between the US, Israel and Iran, and with a Gaza ceasefire process that is stalled as Israel continues to pummel the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu is seen as an advocate for military strikes on Iran. One of Trump’s top advocates in the US media, conservative podcaster Carlson, wrote ahead of Netanyahu’s visit how “now is the worst possible time for the United States to participate in a military strike on Iran”.

According to the survey, a slim majority of Americans, 52 percent, have little or no confidence in Netanyahu to “do the right thing regarding world affairs”.

Among Jewish Americans, 53 percent have little to no confidence in Netanyahu.

Source: MIDDLE EAST EYE