A new national poll suggests that American public opinion is shifting sharply when it comes to Israel’s war in Gaza.
According to the Quinnipiac survey, conducted Aug. 21–25, 50% of U.S. voters — including more than three-quarters of Democrats — believe Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide. Just over one-third, mostly Republicans, disagreed with that characterization, while 15% said they weren’t sure.
The poll also found growing opposition to U.S. military support for Israel. Six in ten voters said Washington should stop sending weapons that Israel can use in Gaza, a number that rises to 75% among Democrats. That sentiment has been increasingly echoed by Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Adam Smith, a senior figure on the House Armed Services Committee, who voiced his opposition this week.
This marks a dramatic change from the early months of the conflict. Back in November 2023 — just a month after the war began — fewer than 40% of Americans opposed U.S. aid for Israel’s campaign against Hamas. By December, that number had risen to 46%. Now, it has climbed past 60%.
For over two decades, Quinnipiac has also asked Americans where their sympathies lie in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For the first time, results show a near tie — the strongest support for Palestinians in the poll’s history.
“Support for the Palestinians grows while the appetite for funding Israel militarily dips sharply,” said Tim Malloy, a Quinnipiac polling analyst. “And a harsh assessment of the way Israel is prosecuting the Gaza campaign invokes a word of infamy.”
Israel strongly rejects accusations of genocide. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials argue that if Israel had intended to wipe out Gaza’s population, it has the military capability to do so. Still, an increasing number of public figures — including genocide and Holocaust scholars — say the term “genocide” does apply, pointing to widespread destruction, severe restrictions on humanitarian aid, and inflammatory rhetoric from Israeli leaders. Others, however, remain cautious about using the term.
Earlier this month, a separate poll by the Economist found that 40% of Americans believed Israel’s actions in Gaza amounted to genocide, while the rest were split between disagreeing and being unsure.
The Quinnipiac survey included 1,220 registered voters nationwide and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. Photo by gloucester2gaza, Wikimedia commons.