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A Hopeful Sign on American Support for Israel
Supporters of Israel gather in solidarity with Israel and protest against antisemitism, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terror group Hamas, during a rally on the National Mall in Washington, DC, Nov. 14, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis
On February 27, in an apparent rejoinder against US President Joe Biden’s warning about waning support for Israel’s war against Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cited a recently released Harvard CAPS-Harris poll that indicated that 82% of Americans support Israel.
This was not the first Harvard CAPS-Harris poll that made the news in Israel.
In December, the Israeli media was abuzz with the news that more than 50% of young Americans (18-24) reportedly believed that Israel should be “ended and given to Hamas and the Palestinians.”
While it may seem like these two polls represent a tidal change in American feelings toward Israel over the past two months, an analysis of each Harvard CAPS-Harris poll on Israel and Hamas since October indicates that support for Israel has remained strong among Americans since the October 7 terror attack, and that the negative focus on the war in the media and online has not led to a decrease in backing for Israel’s war against Hamas.
Since the beginning of the war, American support for Israel over Hamas has remained steady at around three-quarters of the population. In October, support for Israel stood at 79%, in November, December, and January, it hovered around 77%, while in February it jumped to 80%.
Surprisingly, among young Americans (18-24), which is traditionally viewed as the population bracket least sympathetic to Israel, support for Israel over Hamas has risen substantially since October, at least according to this poll. Initially, in the wake of the October 7 attack, support for Israel stood at 52%. By February 2024, it had risen to 72%, nearing the national average.
It’s not only in relation to Hamas that Israel garners a substantial amount of American support.
In October, pollsters asked whether the “land on Israel” [sic] was historically the homeland of the Jewish people or the Palestinian people. Roughly three-quarters of respondents held that it was historically the homeland of the Jewish people, including 56% of young Americans.
Similarly, in December 2023, Americans were asked whether “Israel has the right to exist as the homeland of the Jewish people.” The vast majority responded in the affirmative, including 69% of young Americans.
As this was the same poll in which 51% of young Americans said that they preferred that Israel be ended and given to Hamas and the Palestinians, it is clear that some respondents hold views on Israel that are self-contradictory.
As part of this support for Israel over Hamas, a majority of polled Americans have also voiced support for Israel’s war aims (the return of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas). This support does not seem to have been overly affected by the negative representation of Israel’s war conduct in the media or online.
Between October and December (the last month when this question was asked), approximately 60% of Americans supported Israel continuing to fight in Gaza until the hostages are returned and Hamas’ fighting capability was reduced.
Similarly, over that same time period, roughly 80% of Americans said that Israel has the right to defend itself by launching targeted strikes in heavily populated Palestinian areas with proper warnings.
Surprisingly, the number of young Americans agreeing with this sentiment rose almost 20% during those three months, despite the toll on Palestinian civilians caused by Hamas’ use of human shields.
Despite the large street crowds calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, which would ultimately benefit Hamas and weaken Israel’s position, it appears that these loud demonstrations are not representative of the overall American position.
Between December and February, support for an unconditional ceasefire has dropped among Americans, with roughly two-thirds supporting a ceasefire only after Hamas has been removed from power and the hostages freed.
Among young Americans polled in February, 53% support an unconditional surrender, down from 67% in December.
Along with this opposition to an unconditional surrender, a majority of Americans polled in February (including 57% of young Americans) expressed support for Israel continuing its anti-Hamas operations in southern Gaza, despite the effect this might have on the Palestinian civilian population sheltering in that area.
As further proof of how the media’s narrative may not affect Americans’ perceptions of Israel’s war against Hamas, the number of respondents who believed that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza dropped between December and January, despite the focus on South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice during that time.
Even though American support for Israel has remained strong, these polls also indicate that, as Gazan casualties mount (primarily due to Hamas’ exploitation of civilian infrastructure), Israel is receiving more of the blame for civilian casualties and the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Nevertheless, the majority of Americans still rightly blame Hamas for these unfortunate consequences of war.
In sum, despite the heavy focus on Israel’s war against Hamas and the media’s negative portrayal of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, these polls indicate that American support for Israel and its war aims has consistently stayed strong over the past five months of hostilities.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post A Hopeful Sign on American Support for Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US House Members Ask Marco Rubio to Bar Turkey From Rejoining F-35 Program
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard
A bipartisan coalition of more than 40 US lawmakers is pressing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prevent Turkey from rejoining the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, citing ongoing national security concerns and violations of US law.
Members of Congress on Thursday warned that lifting existing sanctions or readmitting Turkey to the US F-35 fifth-generation fighter program would “jeopardize the integrity of F-35 systems” and risk exposing sensitive US military technology to Russia. The letter pointed to Ankara’s 2017 purchase of the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system, despite repeated US warnings, as the central reason Turkey was expelled from the multibillion-dollar fighter jet program in 2019.
“The S-400 poses a direct threat to US aircraft, including the F-16 and F-35,” the lawmakers wrote. “If operated alongside these platforms, it risks exposing sensitive military technology to Russian intelligence.”
The group of signatories, spanning both parties, stressed that Turkey still possesses the Russian weapons systems and has shown “no willingness to comply with US law.” They urged Rubio and the Trump administration to uphold the Countering American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and maintain Ankara’s exclusion from the F-35 program until the S-400s are fully removed.
The letter comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed during a NATO summit in June that Ankara and Washington have begun discussing Turkey’s readmission into the program.
Lawmakers argued that reversing course now would undermine both US credibility and allied confidence in American defense commitments. They also warned it could disrupt development of the next-generation fighter jet announced by the administration earlier this year.
“This is not a partisan issue,” the letter emphasized. “We must continue to hold allies and adversaries alike accountable when their actions threaten US interests.”
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US Lawmakers Urge Treasury to Investigate Whether Irish Bill Targeting Israel Violates Anti-Boycott Law
A pro-Hamas demonstration in Ireland led by nationalist party Sinn Fein. Photo: Reuters/Clodagh Kilcoyne
A group of US lawmakers is calling on the Treasury Department to investigate and potentially penalize Ireland over proposed legislation targeting Israeli goods, warning that the move could trigger sanctions under longstanding US anti-boycott laws.
In a letter sent on Thursday to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, 16 Republican members of Congress expressed “serious concerns” about Ireland’s recent legislative push to ban trade with territories under Israeli administration, including the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.
The letter, spearheaded by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), called for the US to “send a clear signal” that any attempts to economically isolate Israel will “carry consequences.”
The Irish measure, introduced by Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Simon Harris, seeks to prohibit the import of goods and services originating from what the legislation refers to as “occupied Palestinian territories,” including Israeli communities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Supporters say the bill aligns with international law and human rights principles, while opponents, including the signatories of the letter, characterize it as a direct extension of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel as a step toward the destruction of the world’s lone Jewish state.
Some US lawmakers have also described the Irish bill as an example of “antisemitic hate” that could risk hurting relations between Dublin and Washington.
“Such policies not only promote economic discrimination but also create legal uncertainty for US companies operating in Ireland,” the lawmakers wrote in this week’s letter, urging Bessent to determine whether Ireland’s actions qualify as participation in an “unsanctioned international boycott” under Section 999 of the Internal Revenue Code, also known as the Ribicoff Amendment.
Under that statute, the Treasury Department is required to maintain a list of countries that pressure companies to comply with international boycotts not sanctioned by the US. Inclusion on the list carries tax-reporting burdens and possible penalties for American firms and individuals doing business in those nations.
“If the criteria are met, Ireland should be added to the boycott list,” the letter said, arguing that such a step would help protect US companies from legal exposure and reaffirm American opposition to economic efforts aimed at isolating Israel.
Legal experts have argued that if the Irish bill becomes law, it could chase American capital out of the country while also hurting companies that do business with Ireland. Under US law, it is illegal for American companies to participate in boycotts of Israel backed by foreign governments. Several US states have also gone beyond federal restrictions to pass separate measures that bar companies from receiving state contracts if they boycott Israel.
Ireland has been one of the fiercest critics of Israel on the international stage since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, amid the ensuing war in Gaza, leading the Jewish state to shutter its embassy in Dublin.
Last year, Ireland officially recognized a Palestinian state, a decision that Israel described as a “reward for terrorism.”
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US Families File Lawsuit Accusing UNRWA of Supporting Hamas, Hezbollah
A truck, marked with United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) logo, crosses into Egypt from Gaza, at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, during a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah, Egypt, Nov. 27, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
American families of victims of Hamas and Hezbollah attacks have filed a lawsuit against the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, accusing the organization of violating US antiterrorism laws by providing material support to the Islamist terror groups behind the deadly assaults.
Last week, more than 200 families filed a lawsuit in a Washington, DC district court accusing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) of violating US antiterrorism laws by providing funding and support to Hamas and Hezbollah, both designated as foreign terrorist organizations.
The lawsuit alleges that UNRWA employs staff with direct ties to the Iran-backed terror group, including individuals allegedly involved in carrying out attacks against the Jewish state.
However, UNRWA has firmly denied the allegations, labeling them as “baseless” and condemning the lawsuit as “meritless, absurd, dangerous, and morally reprehensible.”
According to the organization, the lawsuit is part of a wider campaign of “misinformation and lawfare” targeting its work in the Gaza Strip, where it says Palestinians are enduring “mass, deliberate and forced starvation.”
The UN agency reports that more than 150,000 donors across the United States have supported its programs providing food, medical aid, education, and trauma assistance in the war-torn enclave amid the ongoing conflict.
In a press release, UNRWA USA affirmed that it will continue its humanitarian efforts despite facing legal challenges aimed at undermining its work.
“Starvation does not pause for politics. Neither will we,” the statement read.
Last year, Israeli security documents revealed that of UNRWA’s 13,000 employees in Gaza, 440 were actively involved in Hamas’s military operations, with 2,000 registered as Hamas operatives.
According to these documents, at least nine UNRWA employees took part directly in the terror group’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
Israeli officials also uncovered a large Hamas data center beneath UNRWA headquarters, with cables running through the facility above, and found that Hamas also stored weapons in other UNRWA sites.
The UN agency has also aligned with Hamas in efforts against the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israeli and US-backed program that delivers aid directly to Palestinians, blocking Hamas from diverting supplies for terror activities and selling them at inflated prices.
These Israeli intelligence documents also revealed that a senior Hamas leader, killed in an Israeli strike in September 2024, had served as the head of the UNRWA teachers’ union in Lebanon, where Lebanon is based,
UNRWA’s education programs have been found by IMPACT-se, an international organization that monitors global education, to contribute to the radicalization of younger generations of Palestinians.