The decline of the Zionist regime in American public opinion; Americans' hatred of Tel Aviv

A recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center in Washington showed that more than half of Americans currently have a negative view of Israel, and that American hatred of Israelis has increased since the Gaza war began on October 7, 2023.

In a poll conducted in the last week of March, the American research center announced that support for Israel among Americans had reached its lowest level, and the results showed that only 45% of Americans had a positive view of Israel, and 53% had a very negative view.

This is while a poll by the same research center in 2022 showed that 55% of Americans had a positive view of Israel and 42% had a negative view.

The results of this survey are consistent with other indicators reflecting the declining image of the Zionist regime in American public opinion. The survey conducted by this American center shows that the decline in American support for Israel has two different bases:

1. Older Democrats are deeply dissatisfied with the close relations of the new US President Donald Trump's administration with Israel and believe that Trump is serving the Israelis too much.

2. Young Republicans have developed a negative view of the regime after the events of October 2023 and the actions that Israel is taking against civilians in the Gaza Strip, and at the same time as the wave of global protests against Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people has increased.

Seth Pender, director of research at the Center for Middle East Democracy, said in this regard: This shift in Democratic public opinion began about two decades ago, but has become more noticeable recently, thanks to the clear decline in support for Israel among young Republicans.

He added: "Israel's aggression against Gaza since October 7, 2023, has been a decisive factor in shaping American public opinion, causing many to reconsider their old positions.

Among Democrats, 69 percent of voters view Israel unfavorably, which means that their negative view of Israel has increased by 16 percentage points since 2022. But among older Democrats, many of whom supported Israel during the tenure of former US President Joe Biden, 66 percent now have a negative view of Israel, representing a 22-percentage point increase in the past three years.

Among Republicans, even though the number of supporters of Israel is higher, more than a third of them, or 37 percent, have a negative view of the regime, which is an increase of more than 10 percentage points since 2022. This is primarily due to a change in public opinion among the younger generation of Republicans, who criticize Israel's aggressive actions.

Adam Shapiro, the Palestine and Israel case manager at the Organization for Democracy for the Arab World, stated in this regard that the results of recent polls show that the bias of traditional American media towards Israel can no longer influence American public opinion as it used to, as people increasingly rely on social media and alternative media sources that spread the truth about the events in Gaza.

He added: These results also indicate the effectiveness of student movements, civil society organizations, and churches in America in protesting Israel's aggression against the Palestinian people and their support for these people.

Regarding the positions of American public opinion towards the regional policies of the Zionist regime, Shapiro said that Americans do not support the deployment of their forces in conflict areas and that their bitter experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan have had a profound impact on public opinion, and the majority of citizens oppose foreign military intervention by the United States.

On the other hand, David Mack, former US Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, said that the wave of support and solidarity of American public opinion with Israel declined rapidly after the October 7, 2023, war.

He emphasized: Israel's violent behavior against civilians in Gaza, including women and children, as well as the aggressions that the Israelis are carrying out against the West Bank and southern Lebanon, are all factors that led to the loss of solidarity with the Israelis by a large segment of American public opinion.

However, despite the spread of hatred of the American public against the Zionists, these changes have not yet been reflected in the political and official positions of the United States; where the majority of members of Congress, except minorities in the Democratic Party, including Senator Bernie Sanders, continue to support providing military and financial aid to the Zionist regime.