Nearly two years into the war in the Gaza Strip, U.S. support for Israel has undergone a seismic reversal, with large shares of voters expressing starkly negative views about the Israeli government’s management of the conflict, a new poll from The New York Times and Siena University found.

Disapproval of the war appears to have prompted a striking reassessment by American voters of their broader sympathies in the decades-old conflict in the region, with slightly more voters siding with Palestinians over Israelis for the first time since the Times began asking voters about their sympathies in 1998.

In the aftermath of the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, American voters broadly sympathized with Israelis over Palestinians, with 47% siding with Israel and 20% with Palestinians. In the new poll, 34% said they sided with Israel and 35% with Palestinians. Thirty-one percent said they were unsure or backed both equally.

A majority of American voters now oppose sending additional economic and military aid to Israel, a stunning reversal in public opinion since the Oct. 7 attacks. About 6 out of 10 voters said that Israel should end its military campaign, even if the remaining Israeli hostages were not released or Hamas was not eliminated. And 40% of voters said Israel was intentionally killing civilians in Gaza, nearly double the number of voters who agreed with that statement in the 2023 poll.

Taken together, the findings in the Times/Siena survey show a major deterioration in support for a staunch U.S. ally that has enjoyed decades of bipartisan backing. The drop is an unusually large shift in public opinion in this hyper-polarized era, when public opinion has tended to move incrementally over long periods unless affected by cataclysmic events such as war.

The survey also hints at challenges for the U.S.-Israel alliance in the future. Israel has been the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign aid since its founding in 1948, receiving hundreds of billions of dollars in support.

Younger voters, regardless of party, were less likely to back continuing that support. Nearly 7 in 10 voters younger than 30 said they opposed additional economic or military aid.

Much of the shift in views on Israel has been driven by a sharp decline in support by Democratic voters. Republicans largely continue to support Israel, though there has been a modest decline.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Lisa Lerer and Ruth Igielnik/Scott Heins
c. 2025 The New York Times Company