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Gallup Polls on American Sympathy
Toward Israel and the Arabs/Palestinians

(1967 - Present)

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. Sample size, question wording, and question order can affect results and reliability. Context and timing may also influence responses, for example, if the survey is conducted during a war.


“In the Middle East situation, are your sympathies more with Israel or with the Arab Nations/Palestinians?”*

(Gallup Polls Only. For Comprehensive Polls - Click Here)

By Year
By Time Period
By Administration

By Year

Month Year Sympathetic to Israel (%) Sympathetic to Arabs/Palestinians (%)
Feb 2024 51 27*
Feb 2023 54 31*
Feb 2022 55 26*
Feb 2021 58 25*
Feb 2020 60 23*
Feb 2019 59 21*
Feb. 2018 64 19*
Feb. 2017 62 19*
Feb. 2016 62 15*
Feb. 2015 62 16*
Feb. 2014 62 18*
Feb. 2013 64 12*
Feb. 2012 61 19*
Feb. 2011 63 17*
Feb. 2010 63 15*
Feb. 2009 59 18*
Feb. 2008 59 17*
Feb. 2007 58 20*
Feb. 2006 59 15*
Feb. 2005 52 18*
Feb. 2004 55 18*
May 2003 46 16*
Feb. 2003 58 13*
Sept. 2002 47 14*
June 2002 49 14*
May 2002 49 15*
April 22-24 2002 47 13*
April 5-7 2002 50 15*
March 2002 43 14*
Feb. 2002 55 14*
Dec. 2001 51 14*
Sept. 2001 55 7*
Aug. 2001 41 13*
Feb.  2001 51 16*
Oct.  2000 41 11*
July  2000 41 14*
Jan.  2000 43 13*
July  1999 43 14*
Dec.  1998 46 13*
Aug.  1997 38 8*
Nov.  1996 38 15*
Sept.  1993 42 15
Aug.  1991 59 21
March  1991 60 17
Feb.  1991 64 7
Jan.  1991 64 8
Oct.  1990 48 23
Aug.  1989 50 14
Dec.  1988 46 24
May  1988 37 15*
May  1986 43 20
Jan.  1983 49 12
Mar.  1983 49 12
Jan.  1983 49 12
Oct.  1982 40 17
Sep.  1982 32 28
Aug.  1982 41 12
Jul.  1982 52 10
June 11-14 1982 52 10
May  1982 51 12
Jan.  1982 49 14
Nov.  1981 49 12
Aug.  1981 44 11
Oct.  1980 45 13
Nov.  1979 40 14
Mar.  1979 34 11
Jan.  5-8 1979 40 14
Nov.  1978 39 13
Sep.  1978 42 12
Sep.  1978 41 12
Aug.4-7 1978 42 11
Mar 3-6 1978 38 11
Feb.  1978 33 14
Dec.  1977 37 8
Nov.  1977 46 11
June  1977 44 8
Apr. 4-7 1975 37 8
Jan. 10-15 1975 44 8
Jan.  1974 38 6
Dec.  1973 48 7
Dec. 7-10 1973 54 8
Dec. 4 1973 48 7
Oct. 19-22 1973 48 6
Oct. 16 1973 44 5
Oct. 5-8 1973 47 6
Oct. 2-7 1973 38 3
March 1970 38 3
Feb.  1970 44 3
Feb. 1969 41 4
Jan.  23-28 1969 44 5
Jan.  1969 50 5
June  1967 56 4
June 2-7 1967 38 3

 

 

 

 

 

*Question asked about Palestinian Arabs

 

By Time Period

 

Israel

Arabs/
Palestinians

Ratio Israel/
Arabs

Avg. All Polls (94) 48.62 13.38 3.6
All Polls After 67 War (90) 48.63 13.44 3.6
Avg. 2020-Present 55.60 26.40 2.1
Avg. 2010-2019 62.20 17.10 3.6
Avg. 2000-2009 50.41 14.64 3.4
Avg. 2000-Present 54.30 16.89 3.2
Avg. 90s 50.20 14.10 3.6
Avg. 80s 45.76 14.59 3.1
Avg. 70s 41.83 8.71 4.8
Avg. Post-Oslo (9/93) 53.02 16.46 3.2
       

Pre-Disengagement (pre-September 2005)

45.77 11.77 3.9
Post-Disengagement (post-September 2005) 59.74 19.63 3.0
       
Question Referring to Palestinians Instead of Arabs (37) [Since 11/96] 53.49 16.30 3.3
       
Record High Support for Israel: 64% (Jan. and Feb. 1991, Feb 2013, March 2018)
Record High Support for Palestinians: 31% (Feb. 2023)
 
Record Low Support for Israel: 32% (Sept. 1982 - at time of publicity of Sabra & Shatilla massacre)
Record Low Support for Palestinians: 7% (Sept. 2001)

 

By Administration

 

Number of Polls

Israel

Arabs/Palestinians

Ratio Israel/Arabs

Johnson

4

47.00 4.25 11.1
Nixon/Ford

13

43.50 5.50 7.7
Carter

13

40.08 11.69 3.4
Reagan

15

45.53 14.73 3.1
Bush

6

57.50 15.00 3.8
Clinton

8

41.50 12.88 3.2
George W. Bush

18

51.39 14.78 3.5
Barack Obama

8

62.00 16.25 3.8
Donald Trump 4 61.25 20.50 3.0
Joe Biden 4 54.50 27.25 2.0

The Question of Bias

Gallup found that Americans respond differently to the sympathy question depending on whether they were asked to rate Israel and the Palestinian Authority immediately before they were asked the sympathies question. When the sympathy question is asked after rating countries on a favorability scale, sympathy toward Israel is higher but has little impact on attitudes toward the Palestinians. Jeffrey Jones noted that it was not possible to determine whether “the percentage of Americans who are sympathetic toward Israel is closer to 50% (as it is when not preceded by country ratings) or 60% (as when preceded by country ratings).” In both cases, he notes, “many more Americans sympathize with the Israelis than the Palestinians.”

While the order of questions makes a difference, Jones said, “Gallup largely maintains the same questions in the same order, year after year. Even if there is a known context effect, as on the Middle East sympathies, maintaining a similar context helps researchers be more confident that any changes they see over time are likely due to real attitude change as opposed to context effects or other types of survey bias.”


Sources: Polling and news organizations.
Gallup.
Jeffrey Jones, “Survey Context Effects on Middle East Sympathies,” Gallup, (March 28, 2019).
Laura E. Adkins, “(Almost) Everything You Knew About The Polls And Israel Is Wrong,” Forward, (April 29, 2018).
Lydia Saad, “Democrats’ Sympathies in Middle East Shift to Palestinians,” Gallup, (March 16, 2023).