Israel Gets Warning Sign From Republicans

More Republicans are questioning Israel's response to Hamas' attack as roughly half of all Americans now believe the country has gone "too far," according to a new poll.

On October 7, Hamas militants launched an attack against Israel, resulting in over 1,000 Israeli casualties. Since the initial attack, Israel launched a ground invasion they say is intended to target Hamas leaders and force them to return more than 100 Israelis being held hostage by the militant group.

Critics, however, have raised concerns about the number of civilian deaths in Gaza amid Israel's invasion. According to the Associated Press, more than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, prompting protests, boycotts and calls for a ceasefire of the conflict in the United States as global leaders ramp up pressure on Israeli authorities to mitigate the number of Palestinian civilian deaths as the conflict continues.

New polling released Friday delivered a warning sign to Israel, showing more Americans, including Republicans, are critical of Israel's military actions following the attack. The AP-NORC survey asked 1,152 Americans whether "the military response from Israel in the Gaza Strip has gone too far, been about right, or not gone far enough" from January 25 to 29.

Fifty percent of respondents said Israel's response has gone too far, an uptick from November 2023 when only 40 percent shared that belief.

That shift was largely fueled by Republicans, though Democrats were still more likely to say the response has gone too far. In November, only 18 percent said they believed the same. By January, that number had grown to 33 percent—accounting for a 15 percent shift.

Among Democrats, 62 percent of respondents said the response has gone too far, up from 58 percent in November, only a 4 percent change.

The poll comes as a warning sign to Israel, as Republicans have generally been viewed as deeply sympathetic to the Middle Eastern nation, particularly following Hamas' attack.

A spokesperson for Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the poll in a statement to Newsweek.

"Since October 7th massacre, when over 3,000 Hamas/ISIS territories killed, executed, murdered and raped over 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped over 240, Israel has received an unprecedented support from the American people, especially on its right to defend itself against Hamas terrorists," the statement read.

The statement continued: "We have seen, on different polls, that the American people support for Israelis stable. It is also worth mentioning the overwhelming support by the administration and by the majority of the elected officials, with a very strong bipartisan base."

Support for Israel in the U.S. has been a bipartisan issue for decades, but Republicans have sought to cast themselves as more supportive of Israel than their Democratic counterparts. Although most Democratic elected officials including President Joe Biden still largely support Israel, some Democratic members of Congress have urged a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas over human rights concerns in Gaza.

Biden has shown increasing willingness to break from Israeli leaders over some matters, including by issuing an executive order placing sanctions on some Israelis over violence in the West Bank on Thursday.

Following the October 7 attack, Republicans attacked Democrats who have been critical of Israel's actions and have pledged support for increased Israel aid. The poll still found that many Republicans remain supportive of Israel, with 24 percent saying they have "not gone far enough," down from 32 percent in November.

Among Democrats, only 9 percent said Israel hasn't gone far enough, up from 7 percent in November.

Update 2/5/24, 7:15 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.