Perceptions of the Middle East by party
It's no longer bipartisan
Gallup polling has been asking the American public about their perceptions of various foreign countries since at least 2001. They recently announced numbers that should cause soul-searching among the American Jewish community.
This community’s self-appointed leaders - that is to say, the richest and the loudest - have assured us for years that support for Israel is bipartisan. But it just isn’t so.
Let us examine first approval of Israel by party over the last 24 years.
Republican support for Israel has been consistently high, and has been consistently higher than Democrat support for Israel every year. However, Democrat support for Israel has collapsed since the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist war on Israel. This is the same party that in a recent poll identified Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as most representative of its values.
Now let us examine support of countries around the world, by party.
The countries are listed in decreasing order of the partisan gap: the difference in support between the two major parties. Thus Israel polarizes the American electorate more than any other country.
Now look at support of Israel and support of the Palestinian Territories.
Republicans support Israel 50% more than Democrats do. Democrats support the Palestinian Territories 27% more than Republicans do.
Republicans prefer Israel over the Palestinian territories by 65%. Democrats support the Palestinian territories over Israel by 12%.
Either way you slice it, there is a 77% swing in support between Republicans and Democrats.
According to CNN exit polls from the 2024 presidential election, 22% of Jews voted for Trump, the most pro-Israel president ever, and 78% of Jews voted for Harris, whose administration helped fund Hamas. Puzzling - but only if you assume that American Jews prioritize Israel’s survival. Sadly, many of them have Netanyahu Derangement Syndrome, a disease like Trump Derangement Syndrome.
I fear, too, that President Trump is promising something he cannot deliver: world peace. We can discuss that another day.
I never imagined that the Israeli split between Republicans and Democrats historically would be so high. I guess there are two reasons for that. First, Jews largely support the Dems (reason unknown). Second, Dems, until the Gazan invasion, appeared to actually support Israel more than in reality (reason Jewish support and money). More than any other, save abortion, this Israel-"Palestine" issue serves to illustrate just how divided the two parties are.
Surak, thanks for presenting this.
I would be interested in seeing where the numbers have been for the last 20 years for Saudi Arabia. Do the numbers reflect Saudi Arabia's support for peace or relationship with the USA or Israel.