WASHINGTON, D.C. — Forty-one percent of Americans now sympathize more with the Palestinians in the Middle East situation, while 36% sympathize more with the Israelis, according to a recent poll. The difference is not statistically significant, but represents a shift in public opinion from a clear lead for Israelis a year ago (46% vs. 33%).
Shifting Sympathies in the Middle East
From 2001 to 2025, Israelis consistently held double-digit leads in Americans’ sympathies regarding the Middle East, averaging a 43-point gap between 2001 and 2018. Public opinion began to narrow in 2019, before the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza. The cumulative effect of these changes has led to Israelis no longer being viewed more sympathetically by a majority of Americans.
A significant portion of Americans express no partiality, with 4% sympathizing with both sides equally, 9% with neither, and 10% holding no opinion.
Since a previous poll in February 2025, a U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, 2025. The first phase, involving the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian detainees, was completed in January. The second phase focuses on reconstruction and demilitarization in Gaza, though both sides accuse each other of truce violations.
Currently, 37% of Americans view the Palestinian Territories favorably, a new high, though still trailing Israel’s 46%. A near-record 57% of Americans favor an independent Palestinian state, matching a reading from 2003.
Independents’ Shift Toward Palestinians
The shift in American sympathies is primarily driven by changes among political independents. Forty-one percent of independents now sympathize more with the Palestinians, compared to 30% for the Israelis. Prior to this year, independents consistently favored Israelis, including a 42% to 34% margin last year.
Democrats’ sympathies have already shifted strongly toward the Palestinians, with 65% currently expressing more sympathy for Palestinians and 17% for Israelis.
Republicans continue to favor Israelis, with 70% expressing more sympathy for them compared to 13% for Palestinians. However, sympathy for Israelis among Republicans has declined by 10 points since 2024, reaching its lowest level since 2004.
Sympathy With Palestinians Grows Across Age Groups
Americans of all age groups have become more sympathetic to the Palestinians in recent years. Among those aged 18 to 34, a majority (53%) now sympathize more with the Palestinians, while 23% favor Israelis – a record low for this age group.
Among those aged 35 to 54, 46% sympathize more with the Palestinians, compared to 28% who favor Israelis. This is a near reversal of opinion compared to 2025, when 45% favored Israelis and 33% favored Palestinians.
Among adults aged 55 and older, 49% sympathize more with Israelis and 31% with Palestinians, the first time since 2005 that less than half of older Americans have favored Israelis. The 18-point lead for Israelis is the narrowest gap recorded for this age group.
Israel’s Favorability Declines, Palestinian Territories’ Rises
Americans’ favorability toward Israel has declined in the past year, while their view of the Palestinian Territories has improved. However, Americans still view Israel more favorably (46%) than the Palestinian Territories (37%).
Israel’s favorable rating has declined to near its historical low (45% in 1989), while ratings of the Palestinian Territories have reached a new high.
Independents now hold similar favorable views of the Palestinian Territories (41%) as they do of Israel (41%). Independents’ favorability toward Israel has declined six points in the past year, while their favorability toward the Palestinian Territories has risen by 10. Since February 2023, independents’ favorability toward Israel has dropped 26 points, while their favorability toward the Palestinian Territories has increased by 12.
Democrats have favored the Palestinian Territories since 2025, with 48% viewing them favorably compared to 34% for Israel. Republicans remain the most pro-Israel group, with 69% holding a favorable view, though this figure has fallen 15 points from 2025 to its lowest level in over two decades. Meanwhile, 18% of Republicans view the Palestinian Territories favorably, recovering from a record low of 5% in 2024.
Support for Palestinian State Matches 23-Year High
A 57% majority of U.S. adults favor the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel – a “two-state solution” – while 28% oppose it and 15% have no opinion. The 57% favoring a two-state solution is similar to the 55% recorded in 2023 and 2025, and nearly matches the record high of 58% in 2003.
Support for a two-state solution is highest among Democrats (77%) and a majority of independents (57%).
Republican support has fluctuated, declining from 43% before the Oct. 7 attacks to 26% afterward, before increasing to 41% in 2025 and declining again to 33% in 2026.
The current 44-point gap between Democrats and Republicans is the widest Gallup has recorded on this question, with the exception of 2024.
U.S. adults remain more supportive of a two-state solution than Israelis or Palestinians themselves, with 27% of Israelis and 33% of Palestinians supporting such a proposal in 2025 polling.
Bottom Line
U.S. public opinion toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has shifted in the past 12 months, with Americans’ sympathies no longer lying more with the Israelis than the Palestinians for the first time since Gallup’s annual measurement began in 2001. This shift reflects substantial movement among independents, who now join Democrats in expressing more sympathy for the Palestinian people.
However, Americans still have a more favorable view of Israel than of the Palestinian Territories, though views of Israel are among the least favorable Gallup has measured historically, while views of the Palestinian Territories are the most positive to date.
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