How Americans Feel About The Growing Middle East Conflict One Year After Israel Was Attacked

Topline

Nearly one year has passed since Hamas’s attack on Israel triggered a retaliatory military campaign from Israel that has transformed into a two-front conflict in Gaza and Lebanon, creating a range of shifting opinions from Americans concerned with the bloodshed and a potentially broader war in the Middle East.

Key Facts

Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel killed about 1,200 people and was met with retaliatory attacks from Israel that have killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the region’s Hamas-run health ministry.

The U.S. has provided billions of dollars in aid to Israel since last year and has pushed for a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, though only one short-lived ceasefire materialized last November, lasting for just six days.

The U.S., which has about 40,000 troops stationed in the Middle East, will send a few thousand more troops to the region as Israel targets Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, where more than 2,000 people have been killed.

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Do Americans Support Israel’s War Against Hamas?

About 3 in 10 (31%) Americans believe Israel’s military operations in Gaza are going too far, a slight increase from last December, according to a new Pew Research Center poll, which shows a plurality of Americans, 36% to be exact, are unsure about Israel’s handling of its war with Hamas. Meanwhile, 20% of Americans believe Israel is doing enough while 12% say Israel should be doing more—but both of those numbers have declined in the past 10 months, from 25% and 16%, respectively.

Do Americans Want The U.s. To Play A Role In Ending The War?

The Pew Research Center poll also found more Americans in September said the U.S. should play a role in resolving the war diplomatically (61%) than they did in February (55%). And Republicans in September remained more likely than Democrats (25% vs. 13%) to say the U.S. should not be involved in the diplomatic resolution of the war, according to the Pew Research Center, a drop from the 32% of Republicans and 21% of Democrats who said in February there should be no U.S. involvement in the war’s resolution.

Who Do Americans Sympathize More With, Israelis Or Palestinians?

A new survey from the Pearson Institute and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 25% sympathize more with Israelis, and 15% sympathize more with Palestinians. Most—31%—claimed to have equal sympathy for both sides, and another 26% report having no sympathy for either. These numbers also have not changed much since before the attack on Israel last year.

What Do Americans Think About The Establishment Of An Independent Palestinian State?

The Associated Press-NORC survey marked an increase in the number of Americans who support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, up to about 29% now compared to 22% before the Oct. 7 attacks, in August 2023. Around half of the Americans surveyed said they neither favor or oppose an independent state (a drop from 58% in August 2023), while 17% were opposed, about what it was (15%) in 2023.

How Do Americans Feel About The U.s. Providing Military Aid For Israel?

About 4 in 10 Americans say the U.S. is spending too much on military aid for Israel, very consistent with polls in February and November, according to the Pearson and AP survey.

Are Americans Worried About A Larger Regional War In The Middle East?

Even before the Oct. 7 attack—and Israel’s two-front war in Gaza and Lebanon—a whopping 79% of Americans were either concerned or very concerned about the Israel-Hamas war leading to a larger Middle East conflict, according to a NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll published a year ago.

Crucial Quote

“The mix of U.S. opinions on the Gaza war reflects the complexity of a conflict where Americans may see bad actors and innocent victims on both sides,” the Associated Press reported, citing Paul Poast, a political scientist at the University of Chicago and a research affiliate of the Pearson Institute. Poast added the conflict’s nuances have lended to “very strong views on both sides.”

Key Background

The U.S. has remained a large player in the Israel-Hamas war despite stopping short of putting American boots on the ground in Gaza or Lebanon. President Joe Biden has laid out multiple ceasefire proposals in the last year that have largely failed to materialize, while also trying to walk the rope between supporting Israel’s war against Hamas and providing humanitarian support for the people of Gaza, who continue to face strikes from Israel, famine and mass displacement. American concern about a larger conflict in the Middle East has proven relevant, as Israel’s attacks against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon have raised the ire of Iran, which launched missile strikes at Israel this week. Biden has continued calling for ceasefires as the conflicts escalate, though it remains unclear how much influence the U.S. will have on Israeli military operations given that the two allies have seemingly been on different pages multiple times in the last year. The White House said last month it was not notified about Israel’s strikes in Lebanon that killed longtime Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and provoked retaliatory strikes from Iran.

Further Reading

Iran Launches Missile Strike On Israel, Israeli Military Says (Forbes)

Will Israel Attack Iran’s Nuclear Program? Here’s What To Know About Iran's Nuclear Capacity (Forbes)