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

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?”*

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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).