American Opinion Toward Israel As A Friend And Ally

All Voters 88

All Voters 89

College Men 88

College Men 89

Informed Intifada 88

Informed Intifada 89

Close Ally

Friendly/Not Ally

Not Friendly/Not Enemy

Note: We are presenting raw data. We provide some or all of the crosstabs (i.e., breakdowns by various categories such as party ID) when available. To analyze the data, we encourage users to read the entire study and the methodology used. Results and reliability can be affected by such things as sample size, question wording, and question order. Context and timing may also influence responses; for example, if the survey is conducted during a war.

Does the US security relationship with Israel do more to strengthen US national security or weaken US national security? (Chicago Council Survey - Ipsos, September 7-18, 2023, February 16–18, 2024)

	2023	2024
More to strengthen	64%	50%
More to weaken	32%	43%

Americans share common values with Israel. (harrisx for Jewish Federations of North America and Conference of Presidents, November 13, 2023)

Agree	76%
Disagree	24%

America is a strong and reliable supporter of Israel. (harrisx for Jewish Federations of North America and Conference of Presidents, November 13, 2023)

Agree	84%
Disagree	16%

Do you consider the countries listed below to be a friend or an enemy of the United States? [Israel] (The Economist/YouGov, October 14-17, 2023)

	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Ally	37%	38%	37%	40%	45%
Friendly	25%	24%	27%	27%	28%
Unfriendly	9%	9%	9%	8%	5%
Enemy	6%	6%	5%	6%	4%
Not Sure	23%	23%	22%	20%	17%

Percent who say that Israel is... (AP/NORC, August 10-14, 2023)

An ally that shares U.S. interests and values	32%
A partner that the U.S. should cooperate with, but doesn't shares its interests and values	43%
A rival that the U.S. should compete with, but that it's not in conflict with	12%
An adversary that the U.S. is in conflict with	7%

Who is the most important ally to the U.S.? (Pew, May 30-June 4, 2023).

Country
UK	22%
Canada	6%
No country	6%
Israel	4%
Germany	3%

Of those who name Israel as America’s top ally, what is very important to the U.S. relationship with Israel? (Pew, May 30-June 4, 2023).

Economic ties	68%
Shared values	79%
Defense ties	94%

Generally speaking, which of following descriptions do you feel best reflects the relationship between the United States and the countries listed below? Israel (%) (Chicago Council Surveys, July 7-26, 2021)

	Rep	Dem	Ind	Total
An ally	60%	22%	35%	37%
A necessary partner	21%	37%	29%	29%
A rival	2%	4%	4%	3%
An adversary	2%	6%	5%	4%
Don’t know	14%	30%	27%	25%

Do you consider the countries listed below to be a friend or an enemy of the United States? [Israel] (The Economist/YouGov)

	10/2018	12/2019	12/20	3/2021
Ally	37%	38%	37%	40%
Friendly	25%	24%	27%	27%
Unfriendly	9%	9%	9%	8%
Enemy	6%	6%	5%	6%
Not Sure	23%	23%	22%	20%

Please rate your feelings toward some countries and peoples, with one hundred meaning a very warm, favorable feeling, zero meaning a very cold, unfavorable feeling, and fifty meaning not particularly warm or cold. You can use any number from zero to one hundred, the higher the number the more favorable your feelings are toward that country or those people. (mean) (Chicago Council Surveys, June 2-19, 2020)

Country
Canada	81%
Great Britain	74%
Mexico	61%
South Korea	60%
Israel	58%
India	55%

Who sees the U.S. as their top ally? (Pew, Oct. 14-Nov. 24, 2019).

Country
Israel	82%
South Korea	71%
Philippines	64%
Japan	63%
Canada	46%
Australia	38%
Kenya	35%

Do you consider the countries listed below to be a friend or an enemy of the United States? (The Economist/YouGov , October 21-23, 2018)

Country	Ally	Friendly	Unfriendly	Enemy	Not Sure
Canada	48%	32%	5%	1%	12%
UK	54%	26%	4%	2%	15%
Germany	35%	33%	9%	3%	20%
Japan	39%	30%	7%	3%	20%
Israel	37%	25%	9%	6%	23%
Mexico	18%	40%	19%	5%	19%
Turkey	6%	24%	28%	7%	35%
Saudi Arabia	7%	21%	30%	15%	27%
China	4%	25%	34%	15%	22%
Russia	2%	12%	34%	33%	19%
Iran	2%	4%	31%	44%	19%
North Korea	2%	6%	25%	48%	20%
South Korea	37%	31%	7%	6%	19%

Do you think Donald Trump considers these countries to be friends or enemies of the United States? (The Economist/YouGov , October 21-23, 2018)

Country	Ally	Friendly	Unfriendly	Enemy	Not Sure
Canada	23%	34%	18%	7%	19%
UK	30%	32%	12%	5%	22%
Germany	15%	32%	21%	6%	26%
Japan	24%	33%	11%	6%	26%
Israel	42%	20%	7%	6%	24%
Mexico	6%	28%	28%	20%	18%
Turkey	4%	26%	24%	9%	35%
Saudi Arabia	18%	30%	14%	12%	26%
China	4%	23%	29%	21%	23%
Russia	14%	32%	20%	13%	21%
Iran	1%	7%	18%	51%	23%
North Korea	5%	27%	20%	27%	22%
South Korea	26%	35%	10%	7%	22%

American Views of Countries. (H arvard-Harris, March 2017)

Country	Ally	Neutral	Enemy
Canada	84%	13%	3%
UK	82%	15%	3%
France	73%	23%	4%
Germany	71%	24%	6%
Japan	67%	26%	8%
EU	63%	31%	6%
Israel	62%	27%	11%
India	47%	46%	7%
Brazil	46%	47%	6%
Mexico	45%	37%	18%
Egypt	31%	54%	15%
Turkey	29%	52%	19%
Saudi Arabia	28%	42%	30%
China	20%	43%	37%
Iraq	13%	35%	52%
Russia	12%	29%	59%
Iran	5%	28%	67%
North Korea	4%	15%	80%

Which country is in need of or should receive the most assistance from the United States? (H arvard-Harris, March 2017)

Israel	25%
Syria	10%
UK	8%
Mexico	6%
Ukraine	5%
France	2%
Egypt	1%
Colombia	1%
Turkey	1%
Don't know/No answer	36%

Do you consider Israel to be your country's (America) ally? (Rasmussen Reports, March 2015)

	2015	2014	2012
Yes, Israel is America's ally	54%	68%	74%
No, Israel is not America's ally	46%	32%	26%

Please tell me whether you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with the following statement: "Israel can be counted on as a loyal U.S. ally." (ADL)

	1992	1998	2002	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011
Agree	60%	64%	64%	61%	66%	65%	67%	73%
Disagree	31%	24%	26%	28%	25%	24%	18%	18%

Which do you believe? Israel is a crucial American ally, OR America's relationship with Israel hurts us with the rest of the world? (ADL, October 2011)

Israel is a crucial ally	61%
America's relationship with Israel hurts us with the rest of the world	24%

Which country is the most trusted and dependable ally to the United States? (Independent Media Review Analysis, September 2011)

	September 2011
England	65.0%
Israel	18.5%
Germany	3.4%
France	2.2%
Other	3.3%
Don't know/refused	7.6%

Which country is the second most trusted and dependable ally to the United States? (Independent Media Review Analysis, September 2011)

	September 2011
England	19.0%
Israel	27.7%
Germany	17.5%
France	15.5%
Other	3.9%
Don't know/refused	16.4%

Is Israel an ally of the United States, an enemy of the United States or somewhere in between? (Rasmussen Reports)

	December 2008	July 2010	Aug 2010
Ally	63%	58%	60%
Enemy	3%	5%	4%
Somewhere in between	27%	32%	31%
Not sure	7%	5%	6%

American attitudes regarding countries in the Middle East: (Rasmussen Reports, August 15, 2009)

Country	Ally	Enemy	Net
Israel	70%	8%	+62
Egypt	39%	9%	+30
Saudi Arabia	23%	25%	-2
Iraq	17%	41%	-24
Afghanistan	15%	40%	-25
Pakistan	12%	28%	-16
Iran	5%	70%	-65

What is your overall opinion of the following foreign countries? Is it favorable or unfavorable? (Gallup, February 19, 2009)

	Israel	Saudi Arabia	Iran	Palestinian Authority
Favorable	63%	31%	12%	15%
Unfavorable	29%	60%	80%	73%

How do you regard Israel? (ADL, October 2007)

Favorably	58%
Unfavorably	23%

For each of the following countries, please say whether you consider it an ally of the United States, friendly but not an ally, unfriendly, or an enemy of the United States. (Opinion Research Corporation / CNN, Dec. 15 to Dec. 17, 2006)

	Israel	Saudi Arabia	Iran	Syria
Ally	42%	18%	4%	8%
Friendly, but not an ally	39%	40%	14%	23%
Unfriendly	8%	18%	29%	29%
Enemy	5%	18%	48%	28%

	Ally	Friendly	Unfriendly	Enemy
Israel	42%	39%	8%	5%
Saudi Arabia	18%	40%	18%	18%
Iran	4%	14%	29%	48%
Syria	8%	23%	29%	28%

Do you consider Israel an ally of the United States, friendly but not an ally, unfriendly towards the U.S., or an enemy of the United States? (CNN August 2-3, 2006)

	Israel	Lebanon	Hezbollah
Ally	49%	9%	3%
Friendly, but not an ally	33%	37	14%
Unfriendly	6%	27%	22%
Enemy	4%	15%	47%
No opinion	7%	11%	14%

Do you feel that (READ EACH ITEM) is a close ally of the U.S., is friendly but not a close ally, is not friendly but not an enemy, or is unfriendly and is an enemy of the U.S.? (Harris)

Answered "Close Ally"

	1982	1983	1985	1991	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Great Britain	58		62		61	56	59	62	63	65	66	63	80	64	74	70	74
Canada	63	58				61	62	70	73	70	69	63	73	60	57	51	48
Australia						36	36	47	48	43	45	42	47	43	53	45	44
Israel	33		34	44	26	26	27	32	29	31	37	31	38	37	44	43	41	47
Japan	35			27	13	14	14	19	21	19	23	23	26	28	32	33	30
Mexico		31				25	24	33	30	31	31	28	40	29	33	29	27
Italy												27	37	30	32	27	26
South Korea														21	25	25	25
Spain												21	27	23	30	20	22
Germany	32			27	21	22	22	30	29	29	32	29	39	29	19	19	24
Holland (Nether lands)												22	22	24	22	19	21
Sweden														24	20	18	23
Taiwan							14	18	20	21	21	19	22	17	20	18	21
Norway												20	23	21	17	18
Greece													18	17	16	16	16
South Africa								15	14			9	13	12	13	16	11
Brazil						11	10	15	14	15	15	11	15	11	19	15	14
France					25	29	27	36	36	33	38	38	41	28	13	15	17
India													8	13	12	15	20
Russia (Soviet Union)	(7)	(2)	(1)	(14)	10	7	4	8	6	6	6	5	17	12	13	11	11
Argentina					7			10	11			7	9	10	14	11	10
Chile												5	7	9	8	10	11
Pakistan														8	8	10	9
Colombia													8	10	8	7	10
China	15		5			4	3	5	6	4	6	3	11	5	7	6	5
Kuwait																		16
Turkey																		7
Egypt																		5
Saudi Arabia																		9
Jordan																		8
Qatar																		6
Afghanistan																		4
Iraq																		3
Lebanon																		1
Libya																		1
Syria																		1
Iran																		1

Blanks where not asked
Results in ( ) indicate the former use of the words "Soviet Union" before the current use of the word "Russia."

Do you feel that (READ EACH ITEM) is a close ally of the U.S., is friendly but not a close ally, is not friendly but not an enemy, or is unfriendly and is an enemy of the U.S.? (Harris)

Answered "Not Friendly or Unfriendly"

	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
China	59	69	59	60	57	63	64	49	56	54	54	53
Pakistan									54	52	49	53
France	15	14	18	15	18	18	14	11	25	43	42	41
Colombia								41	48	43	40	41
Russia	38	51	43	45	48	54	50	33	38	37	37	36
South Korea									33	36	35	34
India								29	32	29	32	23
Taiwan		27	25	24	26	26	25	18	26	25	26	25
Chile							29	17	27	23	26	23
Germany	19	19	21	21	20	24	20	10	19	28	25	24
South Africa					33	31	26	21	24	28	24	30
Argentina	25				26	23	25	16	24	19	24	25
Brazil	16	22	20	21	22	22	23	16	22	23	22	25
Sweden									13	20	22	17
Japan	30	33	32	27	31	28	29	24	24	22	21	27
Spain							16	12	19	20	21	20
Israel	29	29	28	32	30	23	24	24	22	19	20	19	24
Greece								15	20	21	18	19
Mexico	19	14	18	20	21	24	20	14	21	20	16	20
Holland (Netherlands)							14	11	14	15	16	15
Norway								12	15	14	15	20
Italy							16	10	13	15	12	21
Canada	2	3	6	6	6	5	7	3	6	10	10	12
Australia	5	7	8	5	9	9	10	7	9	8	10	9
Great Britain	7	7	7	7	9	8	8	1	6	6	6	4
Kuwait													49
Turkey													55
Egypt													54
Saudi Arabia													57
Jordan													57
Qatar													67
Afghanistan													77
Iraq													82
Lebanon													85
Libya													88
Syria													91
Iran													97

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: It is critical that the next President of the United States support Israel, our democratic ally in the Middle East. (The Israel Project, July 17-19, 2004)

Agree	67% (of which 35% agree strongly)
Disagree	24% (of which 8% disagree strongly)

Which statement is closest to your own view? (ADL, December 2003)

As a world leader trying to bring peace to the Middle East, it is important for the U.S. to work with Arab nations like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, even if it means weakening our strong relationship with Israel.	44%
Israel is America's most loyal ally in the Middle East. The U.S. has a moral and strategic obligation to keep our relationship with Israel strong, even if this means weakening our relationship with the Arab world.	31%

For each of the following countries, please describe your view of the relationship between that country and the United States. First, would you say Israel is an ally, friendly, but not an ally, unfriendly but not an enemy, an enemy of the U.S. or haven't you heard enough about that to say: (Gallup)

	March 2000
An ally	40%
Friendly, not ally	20%
Unfriendly, not enemy	14%
Enemy of the U.S.	4%
Haven't heard enough to say	22%

I'd like you to tell me whether or not you think that country (Israel) is or not a reliable ally of the United States: (Roper Poll)

	Reliable Ally	Not a Reliable Ally
Apr.'89	44	34
Apr.'88	43	36
Feb.'87	49	29
June.'86	52	32

Would you say that Israel is a reliable ally or not? (WP-ABC, February 12-14, 1989)

	Feb.'89	Apr.'86	Sept.'86	March'82	Oct.'81
A Reliable Ally	41	54	40	54	64
Not a Reliable Ally	56	40	45	35	24

Tell me if you feel that country is a close ally of the U.S., is friendly but not a close ally, is not friendly but not an enemy, or is unfriendly and an enemy of the U.S. (Specified country, Israel): (USA Today)

	Dec.'74	Nov.'81	Jan.'82	June'82	Aug.'82
Close ally	26	35	29	35	24
Friendly	49	49	46	44	49
Not friendly	10	8	14	11	13
Enemy	1	3	3	2	3
Not sure	14	5	8	8	11
Total	100	100	100	100	100

	Nov.'82	Feb.'83	Sep.'83	Nov.'84	Oct.'85
Close ally	32	24	35	35	34
Friendly	40	45	43	43	38
Not friendly	16	16	12	12	16
Enemy	4	4	3	3	5
Not sure	8	11	7	7	7
Total	100	100	100	100	100

Do you think the State of Israel is a close ally of the US; is friendly, but not a close ally; is not friendly, but not an enemy; or is an enemy of the United States. (Marttila & Kiley, 2/91)

Close ally	46%
Friendly, not an ally	42%
Not friendly, not enemy	8%
Enemy	1%
Not sure	3%

Tell me whether you think that country is a reliable ally of the U.S. - one that can be trusted to cooperate with the U.S. in almost any circumstances - or not. Would you say that country is a reliable ally of the U.S. or not. (Responses indicate reliable ally)

	WP-ABC Oct.'81	WP-ABC Mar.'82	WP-ABC Aug.'82	Gallup Jan.'83	Roper Jan.'84
Israel	64	54	44	41	54
Egypt	59	52	39	33	37
Saudi Arabia	33	28	28	NA	NA
Jordan	NA	24	26	16	17
Syria	NA	14	9	5	7

(ADL)

	Jan.	May
Israel is a reliable ally	52	41
Israel threatens the U.S.	28	29
DK	15	26

(AJC)

	April
Israel is a reliable ally	44
Israel is a friend	32

Israel as U.S. Ally (1989 data from Marttila & Kiley, ADL 1989: 1988 data from Gallup, AJC)

In the future, do you think that Israel will be an ally that the United States can depend on, or not? (CBS News/New York Times Poll, June 5-8. 1990)

Can Depend	45
Cannot	40
DK/NA	16

The U.S. should give stronger support to Israel than the Arabs. Israel is a reliable ally of the U.S.

U.S. should give stronger support to... (ADL)

	January	May
Israel	47	44
Arabs	12	7
Don't know	14	20