Digital Library
2022 Modest Warming in U.S. Views on Israel and Palestinians
Topic:
Israel & Regional Politics
Principal Investigators:
Becka A. Alper
Study Date:
2022
Source:
Pew Research Center
Key Findings:
Pew Research Center conducted this study to better understand Americans’ views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Overall, Americans continue to express more positive feelings toward the Israeli people than toward the Palestinian people – and to rate the Israeli government more favorably than the Palestinian government.
U.S. adults under 30 view the Palestinian people at least as warmly (61% very or somewhat favorable) as the Israeli people (56%) and rate the Palestinian government as favorably (35%) as the Israeli government (34%).
Republicans and those who lean toward the Republican Party express much more positive views of the Israeli people (78% very or somewhat favorable) than of the Palestinian people (37%), and they view the Israeli government far more favorably (66%) than the Palestinian government (18%).
By contrast, Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents hold about equally positive views of the Israeli people and Palestinian people (60% and 64% favorable, respectively) and rate Israel’s government on par with the Palestinian government (34% vs. 37%).
Among both Republicans and Democrats, feelings toward the Israeli and Palestinian governments and the Palestinian people have warmed slightly since 2019, while views of the Israeli people have held steady.
About one-third of the public says splitting the land into two countries – a version of the “two-state solution” long backed by U.S. diplomacy – would be best (35%). But roughly a quarter (27%) would prefer to see a single state emerge, in most cases with a government comprised jointly of Israelis and Palestinians. And more than a third of U.S. adults (37%) say they are not sure what is the best outcome.
Compared with their elders, younger U.S. adults tend to express cooler views toward the Israeli people and warmer views toward the Palestinians. For example, 56% of adults under 30 say they feel favorably toward the Israeli people, compared with 78% among those ages 65 and older. And a solid majority of those ages 18 to 29 (61%) express favorable views toward the Palestinians, compared with 46% of those 50 and older.
As with views toward the Israeli people, young adults are much less positive toward the Israeli government than are older Americans. But adults under 30 have somewhat more favorable views of the Palestinian government now than they did in 2019
The survey also asked the U.S. public about the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. Relatively few Americans know about this boycott effort; 84% say they have heard “not much” or “nothing at all” about it.
Methodology:
The American Trends Panel (ATP), created by Pew Research Center, is a nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults. Panelists participate via self-administered web surveys. Panelists who do not have internet access at home are provided with a tablet and wireless internet connection. Interviews are conducted in both English and Spanish. The panel is being managed by Ipsos.
The overall target population for this survey was non-institutionalized persons ages 18 and older, living in the U.S., including Alaska and Hawaii.
Data in this report is drawn from the panel wave conducted March 7-13, 2022. A total of 10,441 panelists responded out of 11,687 who were sampled, for a response rate of 89%. The cumulative response rate accounting for nonresponse to the recruitment surveys and attrition is 3%. The break-off rate among panelists who logged on to the survey and completed at least one item is 1%. The margin of sampling error for the full sample of 10,441 respondents is plus or minus 1.5 percentage points. The ATP data is weighted in a multistep process that accounts for multiple stages of sampling and nonresponse that occur at different points in the survey process.