Over Half of US Adults View Israel Unfavorably, Pew Survey Finds

Wednesday, 9 April 2025 | More than half of US adults, or 53%, have an unfavorable opinion of Israel, up from 42% in March 2022 – before the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, and the ensuing Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted March 24-30 looking at US President Donald Trump’s foreign policy and global trade actions.

The survey also found that Americans’ confidence in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also remains relatively low, at 32%.

US President Donald Trump has so far received mixed or negative views from Americans regarding his early foreign policy actions, including his involvement with Israel and in trying to end the war with Gaza.

Other foreign policy actions surveyed include Trump’s working more closely with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, withdrawing the US from international agreements, his statements about taking over Greenland and Gaza and tariffs imposed on US trade partners.

One example is that more Americans disapprove than approve of the US leaving international organizations and agreements including the World Health Organization, the Paris Climate Agreement and cancelling most US Agency for International Development (USAID) programs

Some 43% of Americans says Trump is favoring Russia too much in his negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war, but when asked about their opinion on whether Trump is striking the right balance when it comes to US relations with Israelis and Palestinians, opinions are more mixed.

Some 31% say they see him favoring the Israelis too much and 29% say he is striking the right balance. Another 3% say he is favoring the Palestinians too much. This leaves 37% who say that they are unsure.

For comparison, in July, views of how US President Joe Biden was handling the conflict were more even with 21% saying he favored Israelis too much and 20 % saying he favored Palestinians too much, with another 18% saying he was striking the right balance and 40% unsure.

Meanwhile, most Americans do not think it’s likely Trump will pursue a takeover of Gaza.

Some 38% say it’s either not too or not at all likely, 26% say it’s somewhat likely, and 20% say it’s extremely or very likely. Another 16% are unsure.

Some 62% of Americans oppose the US taking over Gaza, including 49% who strongly oppose it. Another 22% are unsure, while 15% favor it.

From the perspective of politics, Republicans are somewhat more likely than Democrats to say it is unlikely that Trump will try to take over Gaza, with Republicans at 43% and Democrats at 34%.

Republicans are also more likely than Democrats to be in favor of a US takeover of Gaza at 27% to 5%, though a plurality of people in both parties oppose it. Some 44% of Republicans oppose the US taking over Gaza, while another 28% are unsure. Democrats are fairly united in their opposition, with 80% saying they oppose the measure, including 72% who strongly oppose it.

On Monday, speaking to reporters before a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump described the Gaza Strip as “a tremendous piece of real estate” and said the US still plans to take control of the territory. “It’s a great place. I don’t understand why Israel gave it up,” he said in remarks from the White House.

The survey was conducted from March 24 to March 30. A total of 3,605 panelists responded out of 4,045 who were sampled, for a survey-level response rate of 89%. The margin of sampling error for the full sample of 3,605 respondents is plus or minus 1.9 percentage points.

The survey includes oversample of Jewish, Muslim and non-Hispanic Asian adults in order to provide more precise estimates of the opinions and experiences of these smaller demographic subgroups. These oversampled groups are weighted back to reflect their correct proportions in the population.