WCVB/UMass Poll
January 25-30, 2024
The Details
1. Just under a third of Americans think Biden is handling the Israel-Hamas war well, but almost two thirds think he isn't.
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31% feel the U.S. President is handling the war well, and 59% feel he isn't handling it well. 10% don't know.
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It's worth paying attention to the fact that 42% of Americans think he's handling the Russian-Ukrainian conflict well, and 50% think he isn't. 8% don't know.
2. Americans split down the middle on whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
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50% say yes and 50% say no to the question of whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, even when the definition of genocide is described to them before the question is asked.
3. More Americans support Israel's military response than oppose it, but support and opposition for the U.S. aid package to Israel is equal.
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43% support Israel's military response to October 7th, and 26% oppose it. One third of Americans (32%) say they neither support nor oppose it.
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36% support the aid package to Israel in support of the war against Hamas, and 35% oppose it. 29% neither support nor oppose it.
Key Takeaways
As we get closer to Biden's election campaign, the drop in support for the way he's handling the Israel-Hamas war is an important indicator we need to step up our advocacy efforts. Having said that, Biden's approval ratings are not very strong across the board, and so we need to be aware of the sentiment amongst Americans but not become overly concerned about it.
With half of Americans thinking Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, we must work on improving our messaging about the legitimacy of our military efforts. Genocide requires actual intention to do harm, which Israel clearly doesn't have. To mitigate the harm caused by associated "Israel" with "genocide", we recommend firstly expressing empathy for the tragic situation and suffering of the Palestinians, and then saying we wish it wasn't happening to anyone, that this wasn't a war we asked for, and we hope it will be over as soon as possible for everyone's sake.
Contrary to popular opinion in the pro-Israel community, significantly more Americans support Israel's ground incursion than those who oppose it. This is excellent news and we must continue implementing the strategy we've proposed since the outset of the war to focus the messaigng on the hostage crisis and ending terrorism. So far, it's still bearing fruits.
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