Crowds gathered in Tehran as Iranians react to a two week ceasefire in the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.
Americans continue to increasingly view Israel negatively amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
The results published April 7 found 60% of all American adults had an unfavorable opinion of Israel, compared with 53% a year earlier. Just 37% of respondents had a favorable view of Israel, a longstanding ally of the United States in the region and a historic beneficiary of foreign aid.
Pew's latest polling is a 20-point shift since 2022, when most Americans had favorable views of Israel. Then, just 42% had an unfavorable opinion of Israel.
Pew found younger Americans across the ideological spectrum in particular have negative views toward Israel. About 70% of respondents younger than 50 had unfavorable opinions of Israel.
Among people who identified with the Democrats, 80% had unfavorable opinions of Israel. Pew said Republicans had mixed opinions on Israel, with about 58% still having favorable views compared with 41% disapproval.
Pew fielded its poll of around 3,500 American adults between March 23 and March 29, about a month into the United States' and Israel's war with Iran, which is now in a ceasefire. The war has fueled Americans' suspicions that Israel, particularly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has dragged the United States into a protracted conflict in the Middle East.
The survey comes two-and-a-half years after the 2023 Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel, followed by Israel's devastating siege of Gaza and increasing incursions in the occupied West Bank, which are both considered part of a future Palestinian state.
Several human rights groups and a growing number of Americans have called Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide, though Israel supporters have denied such claims as biased, arguing the country's military takes steps to reduce civilian casualties. The conflict in Gaza is now in a tenuous ceasefire, though Israel has continued strikes in the Palestinian territory as well as in Lebanon against what it said were against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.
A small but growing number of candidates, particularly Democrats, have increasingly distanced themselves from explicit support for Israel, including by questioning military aid to Israel. Some prominent conservative figures aligned with President Donald Trump, such as Tucker Carlson and former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, have pushed for him to stop the Iran war and distance the United States from Israel.
More than half of Pew's respondents were not confident Trump could make good decisions when it came to relations between the United States and Israel.
Across ages, Americans increasingly oppose Netanyahu, Israel's longest serving prime minister. Less than 30% of Pew respondents said they had confidence that Netanyahu, who has an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, would do the right thing regarding world affairs.
Pew's survey had starkly divided results by religion. Nearly two-thirds of Jewish Americans and White evangelical Protestants had favorable views of Israel. Meanwhile, 39% of White non-evangelical Protestants, 35% of Catholics, 33% of Black Protestants and 22% of religiously unaffiliated had positive opinions of Israel. Just 4% of Muslim Americans viewed Israel favorably.
In late February, Gallup found Americans' sympathies aligned more with Palestinians than with Israelis. Most people ages 18-34 sympathized more with Palestinians, which Gallup marked as a first.
Pew's latest poll found a slight majority of Americans said the conflict between Israel and Hamas was personally important to them. But with American military actions in Iran, which Trump said has been paused for two weeks, the number shot up to 77% of respondents saying it is personally important.
Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City.