New poll says 60 percent of Americans oppose US military aid to Israel

A solid majority of Americans disapprove of the US sending military aid to Israel, as it wages a genocide in Gaza, according to a new poll released by Quinnipiac University on Wednesday.

Pollsters at the university found that 60 percent of Americans are opposed to the US sending arms to Israel, while only 32 percent support additional aid.

This was the highest level of opposition and lowest level of support for US military aid to Israel since Quinnipiac first asked this question on 2 November 2023, following the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel.

An overwhelming majority of Democrats - 75 percent - oppose sending military aid to Israel. Likewise, 66 percent of Independents are against it. Among Republicans, support is higher, with 56 percent in favour and 36 percent against. However, other polling has shown younger Republicans moving away from Israel.

Notably, Israel’s diminishing support within the US has coincided with increased backing for the Palestinians. Asked where their sympathies lie, 37 percent of US voters said the Palestinians, while 36 percent said the Israelis, and 27 percent said they had no opinion.

Quinnipiac University said the poll marked an all-time high in support for Palestinians going back to December 2001, the first time Quinnipiac began asking the question.

Fifty percent of voters also think Israel is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, while 35 percent do not think so. Again, the overwhelming majority of Democrats - 77 percent - said Israel’s war is a genocide.

Among Republicans, the number stands at just 20 percent, while 51 percent of Independents consider Israel’s war a genocide.

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“Support for the Palestinians grows while the appetite for funding Israel militarily dips sharply. And a harsh assessment of the way Israel is prosecuting the Gaza campaign invokes a word of infamy," Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said.

The poll reflects the stark divide among US citizens and lawmakers who continue to support arming Israel. The Democratic Party is in an increasingly difficult position as its base moves significantly away from Israel.

In July, a majority of Senate Democrats, and two Independent allies, supported resolutions to block the sale of $675m in bombs and guidance kits, as well as the shipment of 20,000 assault rifles to Israel. All Republicans voted against the resolutions, which did not pass. The number of Democratic votes in favour, however, represented a record.

Differences within the Democratic Party came into view this week when its national committee took up two resolutions which would lay out how the party responds to Israel’s genocide.

One resolution introduced by a 26-year-old Democratic National Committee member, calling for an arms embargo and an end to US military aid, was defeated. The party has yet to agree on a platform.