Rubén Weinstener
Bipartisan concern about violence against Jews in U.S.; wide partisan gap in concerns over violence against U.S. Muslims
Pew
Research Center conducted this study to better understand Americans’
views of the current war between Israel and Hamas. For this analysis, we
surveyed 5,203 adults from Nov. 27 to Dec. 3, 2023. Everyone who took
part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel
(ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random
sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have
a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of
the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan
affiliation, education and other categories.
As the war between
Hamas and Israel continues with no end in sight, far more Americans
(65%) say Hamas bears a lot of responsibility for the current conflict
than say that about the Israeli government (35%).
Much
smaller shares of Americans say the Palestinian people (20%) and the
Israeli people (13%) have a lot of responsibility for the war.
A
new Pew Research Center survey, conducted Nov. 27-Dec. 3 among 5,203
adults, finds sizable partisan and age differences on these questions,
as well as about many other aspects of the two-month-old war: Majorities
of both Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (73%) and
Democrats and Democratic leaners (62%) say Hamas has a lot of
responsibility for the conflict. But Democrats (50%) are more than twice
as likely as Republicans (21%) to say the Israeli government bears a
lot of responsibility.
About half of adults ages 18 to 29 (46%) say
Hamas has a lot of responsibility for the war. That compares with
majorities of 60% or more among older age groups. (Explore this further in chapter 1.)
Related: About half of Republicans now say the U.S. is providing too much aid to Ukraine
The
war between Israel and Hamas has spurred a number of concerns among
Americans, including the possibility of a wider regional conflict and
terror attacks in this country:
Bipartisan concern over violence against Jews in the U.S.
Nearly
half of Americans (48%) say that when thinking about the war, they are
extremely or very concerned about the possibility of increasing violence
against Jewish people in the United States.
Another 31% say
they are somewhat concerned about this; just 19% have little or no
concern about increasing violence against American Jews.
Nearly
identical shares of Democrats (49%) and Republicans (48%) say they are
extremely or very concerned about the possibility of increasing violence
against Jews in this country.
Democrats more likely than Republicans to express concern about increased violence against U.S. Muslims
About
half of Democrats (53%) say they are extremely or very concerned about
the possibility that violence against Muslims in the U.S. will increase,
compared with 22% of Republicans.
While about half of
Republicans (53%) say they are at least somewhat concerned about the
prospect of rising violence against Muslims in the U.S., 46% say they
are not too concerned or not at all concerned about this. That compares
with 15% of Democrats. (Explore this further in chapter 2.)
Biden administration’s response to Israel-Hamas war viewed more negatively than positively
Roughly
a third of adults (35%) approve of the Biden administration’s response
to the Israel-Hamas war, while 41% disapprove and 24% are not sure.
Republicans disapprove of the administration’s response by about
two-to-one (51% disapprove, 28% approve). Democrats are more divided:
44% approve of the administration’s response, 33% disapprove and 22% are
not sure.
Adults under age 30 are particularly disapproving of the
administration’s response to the conflict. Just 19% approve, while 46%
disapprove. The administration’s response is viewed less negatively
among older age groups.
Americans
generally differ over whether President Joe Biden is striking the right
balance in dealing with the Israelis and Palestinians (25%), favoring
the Israelis too much (21%), or favoring the Palestinians too much
(16%). Nearly four-in-ten adults say they are not sure how Biden is
handling this. (Explore this further in chapter 3.)
Public is divided in views of Israel’s military operation against Hamas
Americans also differ over Israel’s ongoing military operation against Hamas, with nearly a third (32%) not sure.
About
a quarter (27%) say Israel is going too far in its current military
operation, while about as many (25%) say it is taking the right
approach; 16% of Americans say Israel is not going far enough
militarily.
More than four-in-ten Democrats (45%) say Israel is
going too far in its military operation against Hamas, compared with 12%
of Republicans.
There also are age differences in these
opinions, with younger Americans more likely than older age groups to
say Israel is going too far.
Other important findings
About
half of Americans say a two-state solution is still possible in the
future. Currently, 52% say that, in the future, a way can be found for
Israel and an independent Palestinian state to coexist peacefully; 45%
say this is not possible. Democrats (62%) are more likely than
Republicans (43%) to say that a peaceful, two-state arrangement is
possible.
About a quarter of Americans (26%) are following the
Israel-Hamas war extremely or very closely. Another 37% say they are
following news about the war somewhat closely, while 36% are following
not too or not at all closely.
As with most international news
events, younger adults are following developments in the conflict less
closely than are older people. About a third of adults ages 50 and older
(35%) say they are following the war extremely or very closely, roughly
double the share of those under 50 (18%).
Americans who have
been paying greater attention to news about the war are more likely than
others to have an opinion about the administration’s response and to
approve of it. Both Democrats and Republicans who have been following
the war extremely or very closely give the administration much higher
ratings than do those who have been following the conflict less
closely.
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