Wall Street Journal
November 29 – December 4, 2023
Methodology
The WSJ published a poll on December 11 that asked the question we’re particularly interested in (sympathies towards Israelis, Palestinians, etc.), which hasn’t been asked in the U.S. in recent polls. The rest of the findings are in line with other polls we’ve seen coming out of the U.S. in the last couple of weeks.
Key Takeaways
Even two months after the war started, Americans remain steadfastly on Israel’s side. However, the generational divide is important to continue tracking, as is the sentiment of Democrats towards Israel. Because they are the ones Biden will be focusing on as he gears up for his presidential re-election campaign shortly.
Amongst the younger generation and Democrats, most prefer to side with both sides rather than one side or the other. Together with those who side with neither side or don’t know, this means that even amongst these more tenuous audiences for Israel, there is “room to grow”. If we tell Israel’s story well to them, we can draw them to become supporters of Israel.
Notwithstanding these good results, we are sensing that we are nearing the inflection point where, if Israel’s leadership does not show extensive humanitarian relief for the people of Gaza, as well as a vision for the ”Day after” the war, sympathy amongst Americans towards Israel will begin to drop dramatically.
The Details
1. We see that support for the Israeli people in American remains significantly higher than for the Palestinians, with a third of Americans saying they support both sides equally.
This leaves another 14% who answered “Neither” or “I Don’t Know”. That’s a full 84% of Americans that we can count as part of the “silent majority” we mention in our strategic advice.
In the graph, we also see:
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The generational divide (but less so compared to other polls), with the same amount (31% – almost a third) of Americans aged 18-34 either siding with the Israelis or siding with both the Palestinians and the Israelis equally, just under a quarter siding with the Palestinians, and a remaining 15% siding with neither or don’t know. Which means that even amongst the younger generation, the “silent majority” makes up 77%.
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The divide between Democrats and the general public as a whole, with only 17% siding with the Israeli people, 24% siding with the Palestinians, almost half opting to side with both equally, and a remaining 11% siding with neither or don’t know. In this case, the “silent majority” represents 76%.
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