(CN) — A majority of Americans find it hard to believe peace is possible between Israel and Palestine. Yet many sympathize with people trapped on both sides on the conflict even if they are more likely to support the actions of the U.S. ally, according to research published by Pew on Thursday.
Hamas, a Sunni Islamist-led militant group in Palestine, launched an armed assault on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 1,000 people. The Israeli government retaliated and has so far killed more than 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza, half of whom were women and children.
More than four months into the conflict, a majority of Americans, 58%, say they support Israel’s reasons for fighting although they're divided on whether Israel’s conduct should be condoned. There is a mere 4-point difference between those who consider Israel’s conduct acceptable, 38%, and those who condemn it, 34%.
A larger share of Americans, 73%, unequivocally oppose the way Hamas initiated the Oct. 7 assault on Israel, which has been an important ally to the U.S. since its establishment as a state in 1948.
Although most Americans support Israel’s actions and rationale for continuing to fight Hamas in Gaza, nearly 6 in 10 polled say their sympathies lie with people caught up on both sides of the conflict.
“Few Americans say they sympathize entirely with either the Israeli people (11%) or the Palestinian people (5%),” the researchers explained. “Rather, 57% sympathize at least to some extent with both Israelis and Palestinians, including 26% who say their sympathies lie equally with both groups.”
Young Americans are more likely to sympathize with the people of Palestine than older Americans, who are more likely to support the Israelis. Nearly have of Democrats said they feel for Palestinians, while roughly a quarter of Republicans support Israel and a nearly a quarter say they support both sides equally.
It's worth nothing half of people polled support providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, involvement which only 19% opposed. Nearly equal shares of people support and oppose sending military support.
A small number of Americans told Pew they worry about the long-term consequences of the Israeli government’s response to Hamas: 22% think Israel will become more secure through battle, but 27% think the people will come out of the war less secure.
Only 10% of Americans think Hamas’ attack will help Palestine gain independence, while 15% think the war makes that reality less likely.
Just 12% of people polled think peace is possible between Israel and Palestine, though 40% back a two-state solution.
Of note are the large shares of people who said they are unsure of where to stand on the complex international issue: 35% of people polled are unsure of how the war will effect Israeli security, and 41% are unsure about the impact on Palestine’s political status.
"Many Americans are also disengaged,” Pew researchers wrote. “Relatively few (22%) say they are closely following news about the war, and half can correctly report that more Palestinians than Israelis have died since the war’s start. On many questions about the war, sizable numbers express no opinion."
Pew surveyed 10,642 Americans mid-February, then added in the views of 1,941 Jewish and 414 Muslim people interviewed by Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel, SSRS’s Opinion Panel, and NORC at the University of Chicago’s AmeriSpeak Panel.
The combined datasets offers rare insight into the division of views between Americans who follow the two different faiths.
While nearly 9 out of 10 Jewish Americans believe Israel’s reasons for going to war are valid, only 2 in 10 Muslim Americans say the same. While 16% of Jews polled believe Hamas’ reasons for attacking Israel are valid, half of Muslims agreed, regardless of whether they support the Oct. 7 attack.
Nearly two-thirds of Jews said they believe Israel’s conduct is acceptable, a view shared by only 5% of Muslims polled.
Americans are also divided on the issues by age, with young people more likely to criticize Israel than older Americans. Nearly 80% of Americans 65 and up validated Israel’s reasons for fighting, compared to just 38% of adults under 30 years of age.
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