Poll: Majority of Democrats wants more pressure on Israel
After hitting 50 percent in 2018, the percentage of Americans wanting more pressure placed on the Palestinians has fallen to 44 percent now. Meanwhile, the proportion of Americans wanting more pressure on Israel has increased from 27 percent to 34 percent, A new Gallup poll indicates.
That’s a positive trend for Palestinians. But it may not be the most significant result of the poll.
Most of the increase since 2018 in Americans wanting the US to pressure Israel more comes from Democrats, “the majority of whom now take this position,” Gallup states.
The 53 percent of Democrats opting for more pressure on the Israelis is up from 43 percent in 2018, and no more than 38 percent in the decade before that.
This marks “a substantive change in Democrats’ perspective on US policy,” according to Gallup.
Only 29 percent of Democrats now think the US should put more pressure on Palestinians than on the Israelis.
This will horrify lobby groups that have long lamented the steady erosion of support for Israel in the Democratic Party’s base.
The lobby has tried to fight back.
One such effort is Democratic Majority for Israel, a group that attacked progressive standard bearer Senator Bernie Sanders during the 2020 primaries.
Sanders had proposed making US aid to Israel conditional on Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.