New polls show plummeting support among faith groups for Israeli government, Netanyahu
(RNS) — A pair of new surveys indicate Americans are souring on Israel in the wake of the war in Gaza, with opinions on the nation, its government and even the Israeli people all declining while views of Palestinians have remained largely unchanged.
Two separate polls released this week revealed the shift, the most recent of which Pew Research unveiled on Thursday (July 9). The survey, conducted in early May, found that most U.S. adults — 62% — now view the Israeli government unfavorably, a nearly 20-point shift from 2022, when only 43% said the same.
What’s more, positive views of the Israeli people dropped significantly, with 52% of U.S. adults viewing them favorably — a 15-point decline from 2022. That places Israelis roughly on par with U.S. views of the Palestinian people, which hover around 50% favorability, down only three points from 2022.
The Pew poll showed clear partisan divisions — Democrats were more likely to view Israelis and the Israeli government negatively than Republicans — but there were also splits among religious groups. Jewish adults were the most likely to have a positive view of the Israeli people (83%), followed by white evangelical Protestants (74%). But white evangelicals were the most likely to view the Israeli government favorably (57%); less than half (47%) of adult Jewish Americans held a positive view.
“Muslims and religiously unaffiliated view Palestinians more favorably than other groups do.” (Graphic courtesy of Pew Research Center)
Meanwhile, minorities of Catholics (34%), white non-evangelicals (33%), Black Protestants (30%), religiously unaffiliated Americans (17%), and Muslims (12%) held positive views of the Israeli government. When it comes to the Israeli people, small majorities of white non-evangelical Protestants (55%) and Catholics (51%) voiced a favorable view, whereas half (50%) of Black Protestants said the same and only 40% of religiously unaffiliated and 26% Muslims agreed.
The change in perspectives on Israel follows years of controversy after Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed around 1,200 people and resulted in 251 more taken hostage. In response, Israel launched a military assault on Gaza that has since killed more than 73,000 Palestinians according to the Gaza Health Ministry — an effort that spurred some religious activists in the United States to mount dramatic protests against the Israeli government’s actions.
The topic has sometimes pitted religious groups against each other, exposing rifts: Earlier this week, roughly 200 faith-led pro-Palestinian demonstrators protested in different parts of Washington, D.C., including at the Museum of the Bible, against the annual Christians United for Israel summit that was taking place in the area.
In the Pew poll, only Muslims and religiously unaffiliated Americans expressed majority favorable views of the Palestinian people (78% and 59%, respectively). Half of adult Muslim Americans also voiced positive views of the Palestinian Authority that runs the West Bank, higher than any other group. Muslims also were more likely than other groups to view Hamas, which has controlled Gaza, positively, with 44% saying so, although no faith group polled voiced majority support for the group.
The Pew survey comes two days after an AP-NORC poll found that roughly one-third of U.S. adults and around half of Democrats say they believe that Israel has committed a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. By comparison, around 2 in 10 of U.S. adults say Israel has not committed a genocide, and roughly half of all Americans say they don’t know.
Activists and humanitarian organizations have long insisted Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to a genocide, and some religious bodies are voicing agreement. In the last two weeks, both the American Academy of Religion and the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have described Israel’s actions as a genocide in separate votes.
The sentiment is less popular among Jewish adults in the U.S., 49% of whom do not believe Israel has committed genocide, according to the AP-NORC poll.
But 30% of Jewish adults maintained that Israel has committed genocide, and debates around the war in Gaza notwithstanding, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains unpopular: According to the AP-NORC poll, Jewish adults are especially likely to see Netanyahu negatively, with roughly 6 in 10 viewing him very or somewhat unfavorably.
That’s higher than Democrats as a whole, 54% of whom have unfavorable views of Netanyahu. Among independents, 33% view the prime minister unfavorably, as do 38% of Americans overall.
Only among Republicans is Netanyahu viewed more positively than negatively, with 38% viewing him favorably compared to 23% who view him unfavorably.
Smoke and flames rise following an Israeli military strike on a target next to a tent camp in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March, 25, 2026.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)