Majority of Americans favor US military aid to Israel until hostages are returned, new polling says

(CNN) — Nearly 11 months into Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, 60% of Americans want the United States to keep up its military support for Israel until the hostages held by Hamas are freed, according to new polling from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs that was exclusively provided to CNN.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his security cabinet have “defined the destruction of Hamas’ military and governing capabilities” as one of their key aims in Gaza, though the notion was rejected by Israeli Defense Forces Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari in June, when he called promises to “make Hamas vanish” outlandish and tantamount to “throwing sand in the eyes of the public.”

But that number falls to 49% when the more ambitious goal of dismantling Hamas, the terror group that carried out the October 7 attacks inside Israel, is described as the endgame.

The results of the 2024 Chicago Council Survey, carried out in late June into July, and another poll from Council-IPSOS, conducted in mid-August, described the US as closely divided over the American government’s role in Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza, with a narrow majority, 53%, now saying the US should condition that military aid to Israel not be used toward military operations against Palestinians.

More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its war on Hamas last fall, the enclave’s health ministry announced on August 16. The death toll has risen since then, and, despite optimistic talk from US leaders about a potential ceasefire, Israel announced a new military operation in the occupied West Bank this week, a move that could further broaden the conflict.

Overall, a plurality of Americans said the US is “striking the right balance” in its support of Israel (22%) or failing to do enough to support Israel (20%). Three in 10 respondents said the US is “supporting Israel too much.” An additional 27% said they were not sure. The findings were roughly the same when the question focused specifically on military aid.

Similar shares of Democrats and Republicans say the US is delivering the right amount of military aid to Israel, at 28% and 29%, respectively. The parties differ over the level of aid the US is providing, with 42% of Democrats saying the US is offering “too much” support, while 34% of Republicans believe not enough is being done.

Support across party lines for restricting military aid to Israel remains largely unchanged since a similar question was asked before the October 7 attack – the figure was 52% in September 2023 and 53% in June 2024. Democrats became six points more supportive of restrictions over that period, while Republican support dropped by seven.

Republican leaders have on the whole been more aligned with Netanyahu’s government. Former President Donald Trump, who has run hot and cold with the prime minister, called for Israel to “finish the job” in Gaza during his lone debate with President Joe Biden. He has also criticized the Israeli military for “losing the PR war” over the conflict.

The GOP rank-and-file are more likely to say US humanitarian aid to Gaza has been delivered at “the right amount” (31%) than Democrats, among whom 44% said “not enough” has been done.

Some Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have criticized Netanyahu’s conduct. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the new Democratic presidential nominee, have offered slightly different messages about the war. Both are now firmly pushing for a ceasefire, with Biden having declared it was “time for this war to end” in late May. Harris, shortly after Biden dropped out of the presidential race, endorsed Israel’s right to defend itself, but also warned that Americans “cannot look away in the face of these tragedies.

“We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering,” Harris said, “and I will not be silent.”

At the Democratic convention last week in Chicago, Harris once again pledged US backing for Israel, condemned the atrocities of October 7 and insisted that the administration was determined to secure a lasting peace in the region.

“At the same time,” she continued, “what has happened in Gaza over the last 10 months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost. Desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety over and over again. The scale of suffering is heartbreaking.”

While about 60% of Americans view the US as playing a generally positive role in “resolving problems in the Middle East,” their views of Israel’s conduct is less generous.  Only 39% said Israel is a positive force.

A closer look at American attitudes toward Israel also reveals a significant partisan divide.
Nearly 60% of Republicans say Israel is “defending its interests” and that its military’s actions are justified, compared with only 15% of Democrats who said the same. On the flip side, 50% of Democrats told pollsters that Israel had gone too far and acted unjustifiably, while only 14% of Republicans agreed.

When combined with independents, there was an even three-way split. Thirty-two percent of Americans said Israel was justified and defending its interests; 34% disagreed, holding that Israel had gone too far; and the final third said they were “not sure.”

There is, again, a sharp split on the question of whether Israel’s military is “intentionally targeting all Palestinians, including civilians.” Overall, 46% of Americans believe they are – a number boosted by Democrats, of whom 63% said Israel was not restricting its military actions to members of Hamas. Only 28% of Republicans said the same.

US support for an independent Palestinian state, uniting the West Bank and Gaza Strip, has remained steady over the past six years, according to the report, at 49%. But the underlying figures show an increasing partisan divide, with Democrats increasingly backing a state (67%) while Republicans (27%) are now even less likely to do the same.
 
The June 21-July 1 Chicago Council survey was conducted by Ipsos and surveyed 2,106 US adults using a nationally representative online panel. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is plus or minus 2.3 percentage points.

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