“Israel has no stronger ally than the United States and our relationship transcends any one president or any one prime minister.”
—Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
“[I]t seems to me the bipartisan support for Israel seems to be cracking on the political left, in this country.”
—Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
When Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer gave a speech calling for new elections in Israel to toss Benjamin Netanyahu out of office, it seemed like yet another sign that Israel was losing support in the US as the war with Hamas continues.
Members of the Biden administration and Democratic members of Congress have been sniping at Israel in various ways for weeks now, and the constant accusations by the UN and various other bodies have undoubtedly painted Israel in a bad light, both of which culminated in the US not vetoing a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire. Israel’s own PR failures aren’t helping either.
(One of the most effective Israeli spokesmen, Eylon Levy, was reportedly removed from duty after he argued with UK Foreign Minister David Cameron online, though the real reason for his suspension may have had more to do with Sara Netanyahu disliking him than any other factor.)
But a new survey released by the Pew Research Center suggests that while Israel is facing some PR difficulties, it still has more support in the US than one might expect after listening to politicians or protesters. The Pew study is based on questions asked in mid-February, from the 13th through the 25th, but they still give a sense of hope that the most vociferous of those talking about Israel are not representative of most people.
Even Chuck Schumer may have come to that realization. Although he called for Netanyahu to be replaced as prime minister, when Speaker of the House Mike Johnson suggested that he would invite Netanyahu to address Congress, Schumer said, “I will always welcome the opportunity for the prime minister of Israel to speak to Congress in a bipartisan way.”
Sympathies:
The Pew study covers a variety of subjects, but one of the most important for those interested in Israel’s welfare is how the American public views Israel.
What the study found was that most people still view Israelis, as a people, more sympathetically than they do Palestinians. That’s not true of Americans between 18 and 29, and it is not true of those who identify as Democrats, but it is true of Americans as a whole.
Even with that, more Democrats and people between 18 and 29 view the Israeli government positively than view the Palestinian Authority or Hamas positively. None of them are very popular, but the Palestinian leadership is much less popular than the Israeli government. It’s clear that Americans are distinguishing between the Palestinians and their government very sharply in the way they view them.
The one religious group that is most well-disposed towards the Israeli government is white evangelicals. Meanwhile, the only group where more than half of the respondents said that they view the Palestinian Authority positively was Muslim Americans, where 59% said they did. Disturbingly, 37% of Muslim Americans said that they view Hamas positively.
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