Most Americans — 58% — believe that countries in the United Nations should recognize a Palestinian state, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
The poll surveyed U.S. adults from Aug. 13 to 18, as several world powers announced plans to recognize a Palestinian state at next month’s U.N. General Assembly in New York City.
The leaders of Australia, France, the United Kingdom and Canada have all said they would take the step nearly two years into the war in Gaza and amid sharp concerns about Israel’s prosecution of its offensive against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long opposed recognition of a Palestinian state. Israel’s allies had until recently supported recognition only in the context of a negotiated peace. This week, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told Al Arabiya English that a Palestinian state was not a priority for the Trump administration and urged European leaders to “reassess their actions” on recognizing Palestinian statehood.
Polling on the issue has been limited, but a poll by the Arab-American Institute, which advocates for a Palestinian state, ahead of last year’s presidential election found that half of Americans supported U.S. recognition of a Palestinian state.
The new poll comes amid mounting indicators of diminishing support for Israel among Americans. It also found a partisan divide, with 78% of Democrats and 41% of Republicans supporting the idea that U.N. members should recognize a Palestinian state. A majority of Republicans, 53%, opposed the idea.
The poll, taken at a peak of concerns about a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, found that 65% of U.S. adults believe the United States should help people who are facing starvation in Gaza. And it found that 59% of Americans believe that Israel’s military response in Gaza has been “excessive,” up 9 points since last year.
Opinions between Democrats and Republicans were also split over those questions. It found that 55% of Republicans believed the United States should help people facing starvation in Gaza, compared to 83% of Democrats. Just 38% of Republicans believed that Israel’s military response in Gaza is excessive, compared to 82% of Democrats.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll gathered online responses from 4,446 U.S. adults nationwide and had a margin of error of about 2 percentage points.
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