Fox News Poll: Voters side with Israelis over Palestinians by 31 points, down from 50 points in October

March 28, 2024 at 18:00 PM EDT

A majority of Americans still back Israel in its ongoing war against Hamas, but by a smaller margin than October when the conflict began

It has been over five months since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the latest Fox News survey finds a majority continues to side with the Israelis over the Palestinians in the conflict, although fewer than last fall.

Voters back the Israelis by a 31-point margin (59%-28%), unchanged since last month (59%-29%). However, the margin is much smaller than the 50-point pro-Israeli numbers recorded shortly after the October 7 attack (68% Israelis vs. 18% Palestinians).

The narrowing comes mainly from a shift toward the Palestinians among liberals (+18), Democrats (+17 points), voters under age 35 (+13), and women (+12). The number of Republicans, conservatives, and White evangelicals backing the Israelis has mostly held steady.

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In a March 14 speech on the Senate floor, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the U.S. and normally a staunch supporter of Israel, strongly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war and called for new leadership. The speech was widely criticized by many Republicans, American Jewish leaders, and Israeli officials. After Schumer’s speech, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said calling for Israeli elections was "unprecedented" and "hypocritical for Americans who hyperventilate about foreign interference in our own democracy to call for the removal of the democratically elected leader of Israel."

Just one quarter of voters view Netanyahu favorably (25%), while 44% view him unfavorably, for a net negative rating by 19 points.

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Schumer is also underwater by 19 points: 30% favorable vs. 49% unfavorable.

Still, the ratings for McConnell are even worse: 20% favorable vs. 68% unfavorable for a net negative 48. Earlier this year, the long-time senator announced this would be his last term as Republican leader of the chamber. Only 29% of Republicans view McConnell positively, while twice as many Democrats, 57%, view Schumer favorably.

Republicans (43%) are four times more likely than Democrats (10%) to have a positive opinion of Netanyahu.

Elsewhere in the world, Ukraine is still locked in a war with Russia and half of voters (51%) feel there should be a limited timeframe for U.S. support of Ukraine in this fight. Slightly fewer (45%) say Uncle Sam should help as long as it takes.

Results were the same in October 2023, but there has been a reversal from February 2023 when 46% supported a limited timeframe and 50% were in it for the long haul.

Foreign policy is a lower priority to voters, however, as 38% say it will be extremely important to their 2024 vote. The economy (61%), election integrity (53%), immigration (48%), health care (46%), and abortion (41%) rank higher. Climate change (30%) is lowest.

By an 11-point margin, voters think former President Donald Trump would handle foreign policy better than President Biden.

Immigration remains a high priority for voters, as the situation at the southern border continues to plague both lawmakers and the Biden administration.

But who do voters blame for the ongoing crisis?

Eight in 10 blame Congress for their lack of action, while three-quarters blame the White House for its lack of enforcement. These results have held relatively steady since February.

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Immigration ranks in the top four issues voters say will influence their choice for president, and they trust Trump to handle it by 18 points. They also trust him on the top issue of the economy (+15), while Biden holds the edge on the next two highest rated issues by much narrower margins — election integrity (by 6 points) and health care (+3).

Conducted March 22-25, 2024, under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News Poll includes interviews with a sample of 1,094 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (122) and cellphones (717) or completed the survey online after receiving a text message (255). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and area variables to ensure the demographics of respondents are representative of the registered voter population.