US popular discontent over Israel’s war on Gaza has grown over the past two years, a Pew Research poll finds. Currently, 39% of those polled said that Israel’s military action against Hamas has gone too far – up from 31% a year ago and just 27% in late 2023. Six in 10 have an unfavorable view of Israel’s government. This survey was conducted before Trump and Netanyahu announced their so-called “peace plan”.

The Pew Research poll revealed that the percentage of those who believe President Donald Trump favors Israel too much has risen by five points since March, from 31% to 36%. Republicans remain far more likely than Democrats to back Trump’s handling of the conflict and view him as balanced between Israelis and Palestinians. Yet among voters of both parties, more people now believe he’s siding too heavily with Israel since previous polling in March.

Polling conducted by the New York Times and Siena University revealed a dramatic decline in support for Israel among US voters. Following October 7, 47% of US voters said their sympathies lay with Israelis, while just 20% sided with Palestinians. Today, that gap has vanished: 34% now say they back Israel, 35% back Palestinians, and 31% say they’re uncertain or support both equally. A majority of voters now oppose sending additional aid to Israel, at 51%.

Although the claims of antisemitism have been levied against the pro-Palestine movement, especially by the US government, Jewish people in the US have vastly shifted their stance against Israeli action in Palestine. According to a poll conducted by the Washington Post, 61% of surveyed Jewish people in the US believe Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza, and 39% said Israel is guilty of genocide.

“The movement for Palestine has intervened”

According to Miriam Osman, an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement, these drastic shifts in public opinion reveal “the massive gap between the policies of the ruling class and the vast majority of people who are not represented by them.” Osman says that the cause of this change is “first and foremost the result of Israel’s brutal genocide, live-streamed to our phones daily unlike any other atrocity we have seen,” but also credits “how the movement for Palestine has intervened, expanded, and kept Palestine front and center, building mass protests and organizing infrastructure over the last two years.”

Groups like the Palestinian Youth Movement have been active in organizing mass mobilizations since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza on October 7 – including taking part in a march of half a million in Washington, DC on November 4, 2023, which to date is the largest demonstration in support of Palestine in US history.

Since then, the movement for Palestine has taken a constant array of diverse forms, engaging potentially millions of people in the US. These include the wave of Gaza solidarity encampments protests, started by students at Columbia University and quickly spread across the country and around the world. Visits to the United States by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have seen mass demonstrations in July of 2024 in Washington, DC, and September during UNGA week in both 2024 and 2025.

The waves of pro-Palestine organizing in the United States have been sustained by a variety of organizations and coalitions, some in existence prior to October 2023 and some coming on the scene after. While the Palestinian Youth Movement has been active for decades, two years ago the Palestinian diaspora organization joined forces with other groups including the ANSWER Coalition and the People’s Forum to form “Shut it Down for Palestine”, a coalition which holds public meetings in New York City each week.

List of US citizens killed by Israel grows

The victims of Israel’s genocide and occupation includes US citizens, but the Israeli government has faced not accountability from the US for these killings. These include Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, an activist shot by Israeli forces while at a protest in the West Bank, and Sayfollah Musallet, a Palestinian-American beaten to death by Israeli settlers while visiting family, also in the West Bank.

The US Department of Justice launched investigations against the alleged killings of US citizens by Hamas during October 7, and charged Hamas leaders with terrorism. However, when it comes to Israeli killings of US citizens, the US government has deferred to Israel to conduct its own internal investigations.

Establishment digs heels in

Demonstrations have also targeted members of the political establishment who have refused to respond to the sea change in constituent opinion and shift their stance in support of Israel. These include those in the liberal wing of politics, such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer – who has faced waves of activist pickets both outside his office and his home in New York City.

Some activists, notably, members of the anti-war group CODEPINK have taken to filming direct confrontations with politicians in the halls of Congress over their support for Israel – including those in the Democratic Party. When campaigning as Kamala Harris’ running mate last year, Tim Walz was called out by CODEPINK activists while at a DNC women’s caucus event for his support for Israel.

After 2 years of Israel’s genocide and war on Gaza, the US government shows no sign of changing its unwavering financial and political support for Israel. Although the Trump administration has been especially staunch in its support, establishment leaders of the Democratic Party have also remained, in many ways, just as supportive as two years ago. As recently as April of this year, establishment Senators including Schumer, fellow New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and Cory Booker of New Jersey, voted down a Bernie Sanders-led effort to limit US arms sales to Israel.

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