New Pew survey shows that sympathy for Israel is becoming an increasingly partisan issue
US support for Israel is high, a new Pew Research Center poll finds, but is increasingly a partisan issue.
The poll, carried out from July 8 to July 14, was published on Tuesday. It asked respondents which side they sympathize more with in the “dispute between Israel and the Palestinians."
According to the survey, 51 percent of Americans said that they sympathize more with Israel, 14% said they sympathize more with the Palestinians, 15% said they sympathize with neither side, and 3% with both sides.
Among Americans 65 and older, 60 percent sympathize with Israel, a figure that declines to 44% among those aged 18 to 29.
Among Americans 65 and older, 60 percent sympathize with Israel, a figure that declines to 44% among those aged 18 to 29.
In terms of party affiliation, red and blue are divided over blue and white: 73% of Republicans sympathize more with Israel while only 44% of Democrats do.
“Dating back to the late 1970s, the partisan gap in Mideast sympathies has never been wider,” the pollsters wrote.
Republican Jewish Committee Chairman Matt Brooks said that the poll shows “a sad and sobering confirmation of the Democrat Party’s shift over time away from support of Israel, especially at its grassroots.”
The poll was conducted among 1,805 US adults.
