As Israel’s devastating war on Gaza enters its third year, opposition is growing not only globally – but also within the Jewish community itself. A growing number of American Jews are publicly condemning Israel’s actions, calling them war crimes and genocide, marking a significant break in what was once seen as unwavering support for the diaspora. News reported.
The shift reflects a broader global reckoning following Israel’s prolonged military assault, launched after the October 7 Hamas attack. From Washington to Sydney, public opinion is turning. A recent poll found that 42% of American adults disapprove of the Trump administration’s handling of the conflict, while in Australia support for sanctions against Israeli leaders is increasing. Even in Israel, a majority now believes that the war in Gaza must end.
According to a Washington Post Many American Jews strongly disapprove of Israel’s conduct of the Gaza war, according to a poll, with 61 percent saying Israel has committed war crimes and about 4 in 10 saying the country is guilty of genocide against the Palestinians.
The poll finds that most American Jews surveyed believe Israel has committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip, and nearly a third believe the United States is too supportive of Israel. But respondents’ opinions on Israel’s overall military campaign there are also divided. More than two-thirds have a negative opinion of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership in Israel.
At the same time, the poll finds that most American Jews are emotionally attached to Israel, believe Israel’s existence is vital to the Jewish future, and support continued U.S. military aid to Israel. Nearly a third said they felt unsafe in the United States.
The poll also found that 80 percent or more of American Jews are concerned about civilian deaths in Gaza, Israeli hostages held by Hamas, the threat to Israel from the resistance group and the safety of Israeli soldiers in Gaza. The majority said Israel, Hamas, Netanyahu and the United States all bore responsibility for the continuation of the war.
According to the poll, American Jews disapprove of the prime minister, with 68% rating his leadership of Israel negatively, including 48% calling it poor. In contrast, 32% approve of Netanyahu’s leadership.
A Pew Research Center survey finds that nearly two years after the start of Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip, Americans’ skepticism of the Israeli operation and its government is higher than in the early stages of the conflict. This suggests that around six in ten people now have an unfavorable view of the Israeli government, with a growing share saying Israel is “going too far.”
39% now say that Israel is going too far in its military operation against Hamas. This is an increase from 31% a year ago and 27% at the end of 2023. 59% now have an unfavorable view of the Israeli government, up from 51% at the start of 2024. 16% say Israel is taking the right approach to the conflict, and 10% say it is not going far enough. A third of adults say they are not sure. A large portion of Americans continue to express uncertainty over several questions regarding the ongoing war in the Middle East and the U.S. government’s response.
A new national survey from the Pew Research Center, conducted September 22-28 among 3,445 adults, finds that 42% of American adults disapprove of the Trump administration’s response to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, while 30% approve. Around a quarter (27%) say they are not sure. Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to approve of Trump’s handling of the conflict and to say he is striking the right balance between Israelis and Palestinians. But the views that Trump favors Israelis too much increased in both partisan coalitions.
A third of adults (33%) believe the United States provides too much military aid to Israel. In comparison, 35% say the United States is not providing enough humanitarian aid to Palestinian citizens in Gaza. Eight in 10 Americans say they are at least somewhat concerned about starvation among Palestinians in Gaza, Israeli military strikes killing Palestinian civilians and remaining Israeli hostages not being returned to Israel.
While more Americans disapprove (42%) than approve (30%) of the Trump administration’s response to the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. About a quarter (27%) say they are unsure.
And 36% of Americans believe that President Donald Trump favors Israel too much in the conflict (compared to 31% in March), while 23% believe he is striking the right balance. Few (2%) say it favors the Palestinians too much. More than a third – 38% – say they are not sure.
A YouGov poll, commissioned by the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN), shows the majority of Australians want Israel to end its attack on Gaza, with 69% agreeing – 53% “strongly” agreeing – that the Netanyahu government’s military campaign should end. 14% disagreed.
Australians support imposing tough sanctions on Israel and its leaders for their role in the Gaza attack, with a new poll finding more than half of voters agree the federal government should extend sanctions imposed on Russia to Israel. The survey of 1,500 voting-age Australians suggests the public is largely supportive of the government playing a more decisive role in ending the bloody two-year war.
According to a poll by the Israel Democracy Institute, a majority of Israelis believe the time has come to end the war in Gaza, with the main reason being endangering hostages. The survey found that 66 percent of Israelis believe the time has come to end the war – a figure 13 points higher than the result a year ago when respondents asked the same question – compared to 27 percent who think or are certain the time has not yet come, and 7 percent who are not sure. The main reason given by the respondents, Jews (50.5%) and Arab Israelis (34.5%), for the war to end is the endangerment of the hostages.
“The one thing everyone could be sure of as the events of October 7, 2023, unfolded was that Israel would emerge from the Hamas attack as a changed country. It was not only about the immediate trauma of the approximately 1,200 dead and 250 hostages, but also how it upended assumptions made by Israelis in previous years that the country was safer and more secure than at any time before. another moment in its history, that the Arab world was slowly accepting the inevitability. of a predominantly Jewish state willing to put aside concerns about the future of the Palestinians and that Israel’s technological prowess could not only generate prosperity but also provide security,” said an analysis by Foreign Policy magazine.
“It will take years for a final reckoning to be made of such a cataclysmic event. In the meantime, the darkest predictions – Israel finding itself trapped in protracted, deadly and destructive wars with Hezbollah and Iran, a declining economy and a deep crisis of confidence – have not materialized. Conflicts with Hezbollah and Iran have ended in favor of Israel with relatively little collateral damage. growth slowed, but Israel absorbed the shock better than expected. Trust in the military and many of the country’s key institutions has not declined significantly, if at all.
Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has claimed more than 67,000 lives over the past two years, following the October 7 Hamas attack, which the Palestinian group said was a “historic response” to Israel’s actions against the Palestinians.
“We reaffirm that the Al-Aqsa floods on October 7 were a historic response to attempts to eradicate the Palestinian cause,” Fawzi Barhoum, a senior Hamas official, said in a televised speech. The attack, according to Israeli officials, resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was reiterating his previous calls “with even greater urgency: to release the hostages, unconditionally and immediately.”
“End the suffering for all… End the hostilities now in Gaza, Israel and the region. Stop making civilians pay with their lives and their future. “After two years of trauma, we must choose hope. NOW.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said: “Two years ago, Israel experienced the darkest day in its history… we pray for the return of the hostages still held in Gaza and we are united against terrorism.” “Hamas must be dismantled to end this war,” the ministry said on X. “Light will rise on the darkness. »
As well as calling for the hostages to be released, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer suggested that pro-Palestinian protests planned for the anniversary of “that terrible day” were disrespectful. “This is not who we are as a country,” the Prime Minister wrote under fire in the Times.
“It’s not British to have so little respect for others. And that’s before some of them decide to start chanting hatred towards Jewish people again.”
