Poll: U.S. Partisan Divide Over Israel Reaches Historic High

The partisan divide in the U.S. over support for Israel has reached a historic high according to a new opinion poll published by the Pew Research Center. The survey found that 79 percent of Republicans sympathize more with Israel than the Palestinians, compared to just 27 percent of Democrats. Pew said the gap was the widest since 1978, the first year the poll was conducted, when 49 percent of Republicans and 44 percent of Democrats sympathized more with Israel. Some analysts have expressed concern over the findings given that Jerusalem has long hailed bipartisan support as the basis for strong relations with Washington. Perhaps equally troubling for Israel is the apparent trend of American youth distancing themselves from the Jewish state. In this respect, the poll showed that 32 percent of Americans under 30 favor Israel, whereas 23 percent sympathize more with the Palestinians. By contrast, respondents aged 50-64 favored Israel by a margin of 56 percent to 12 percent. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was also found to be a divisive figure, with 52 percent of Republicans viewing him favorably, compared to just 18 percent of Democrats. Critics contend that diminishing Democratic support for Israel and, as a corollary, for Netanyahu, is due to the perception that the Israeli government’s policies are primarily responsible for the absence of peace with the Palestinians. On the flip side, others attribute diminishing support for Israel among Democrats to the party’s shift to the Left, a movement whose adherents have typically viewed Israel as anathema.