Fox News Poll: Voters blame Hamas for war, continue to side with Israelis
This is one of three Fox News Polls released Wednesday. See results of Fox News’ polling on the 2024 presidential race here and on Americans’ support for Ukraine here.
More than a month after Hamas launched a horrific attack on Israel, most voters blame the terrorist group for the war in the Gaza Strip and continue to side with the Israelis over the Palestinians.
That’s according to the latest Fox News survey, released Wednesday.
On the war, 66% of voters side with the Israelis, while 22% support the Palestinians. That is about where sentiment was when the war started in October (68% vs. 18%).
Majorities of Republicans (77%), Democrats (56%) and independents (60%) side with Israel.
Voters under age 30 (40% Israel, 47% Palestinians) and those who self-identified as very liberal (37%, 43%) are the only groups with a majority that doesn’t support the Jewish state.
Despite more overall siding with Israelis, 30% think the U.S. is too supportive of them, while 21% say not supportive enough. The largest share, nearly half, thinks the level of U.S. backing is about right (45%).
Democrats (36% too supportive), nonwhite voters (38%) and voters under age 30 (45%) drive the ‘too supportive’ sentiment. Fewer Republicans (25%) and conservatives (22%) feel that way.
Seven in 10 (69%) blame Hamas for the war in the Gaza Strip, while 20% say Israel is at fault.
Since the start of the current war, protests have disrupted college campuses across the U.S. The poll asks voters how they would feel about limiting the free speech of those rallying in support of Hamas.
Sixty percent wouldn’t like limiting such speech, while 36% would feel comfortable doing so. More Republicans (42%) would be okay with restricting free speech on the matter than Democrats (31%) or independents (33%).
Overall, 82% are extremely or very concerned about threats to personal rights and freedoms. Those most concerned are Republicans (87%), voters over age 65 (86%) and men (85%).
When it comes to providing financial aid to the Israeli government for its military, 60% are in favor, up 4 points since 2021. Nearly 4 in 10 (37%) oppose aid for Israel’s military.
However, voters also want to provide humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians in Gaza: 65% in favor vs. 31% opposed.
‘Americans overwhelmingly blame Hamas for the situation in Gaza, but there is deep concern for Palestinians caught in the war,’ said Democrat Chris Anderson, who conducts the Fox News survey with Republican Daron Shaw. ‘As a result, most support military aid to Israel, and even more support humanitarian aid to Palestinians.’
Democrats are more likely to favor the U.S. sending aid to Palestinians (80%) than they are to the Israeli government (57%), while it is the opposite for Republicans (50% Palestinians, 67% Israelis).
Independents are split over money to Israel (48%-48%), but favor sending humanitarian aid to those in the Gaza Strip (65%-31%).
Meanwhile, 70% of voters feel President Biden has been too accommodating toward Iran, which supports Hamas. This is up from 59% in March, and the increase is happening across demographics.
Overall, 39% approve of Biden’s response to the Israel-Hamas war, while a 55% majority disapproves. At the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, 42% approved of his response, while 54% disapproved (March 2022).
‘The Biden administration has its hands full on this issue,’ says Shaw. ‘There is strong sentiment supporting Israel, but there is also a pervasive feeling the Palestinian people are being used as pawns by Hamas. In particular, key elements of the Democratic coalition — young people, liberals and nonwhite voters — hold this view.’
Voters under age 35 are among those most likely to disapprove of Biden’s handling of the war, with fully 69% giving him negative marks. The only group that disapproves more are Republicans and very conservatives (76% each).
In addition to the 82% concerned about personal rights/freedoms, three-quarters of voters are extremely or very concerned about the war in Israel (74%) and about attacks by Islamic terrorists in the U.S. (73%). Two-thirds are concerned about antisemitism (67%) — the same number is concerned about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Worry about terrorist attacks in the U.S. is up 23 points since May.
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Conducted Nov. 10-13, under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News Poll includes interviews with 1,001 registered voters nationwide who were randomly selected from a voter file and spoke with live interviewers on both landlines and cellphones. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points for all registered voters.