Forty percent of US voters think Israel is intentionally killing civilians in Gaza
Forty percent of registered US voters think Israel is intentionally killing civilians in its war on Gaza, according to a national poll published Tuesday.
When asked if Israel was taking enough precautions to avoid civilian casualties, 62 percent said they were not, with just 25 percent saying Israel was taking enough precautions.
More than half of registered US voters disapprove of Israel’s war, and 59 percent said they believe that Israel should stop its "military campaign" even if Hamas has not been fully "eliminated". Only 27 percent said the campaign should continue.
When asked if Israel's campaign should stop even "if not all Israeli hostages have been released", 58 percent agreed, with 30 percent saying they should continue.
The Siena National poll, which surveyed 1, 313 adults across the country from 22 to 27 September, shows that 56 percent of those surveyed disapprove of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with 40 percent strongly disapproving and 15 percent somewhat disapproving.
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More than a third of voters (36 percent) approved of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with 18 percent strongly approving and 19 percent somewhat disapproving.
Overall, 36 percent of those surveyed sympathised either strongly or somewhat with Palestinians, with 35 percent sympathising strongly or somewhat with Israelis, and 19 percent saying they sympathised equally.
Eight percent of those surveyed abstained from voting on the issue.
Gender and generational skew
Women were more likely than men to disapprove of the war, with 59 percent of women disapproving compared to 51 percent of men. In comparison, 42 percent of men approved, compared to less than a third of women (32 percent).
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed almost 70,000 people - mainly women and children in the last two years, with other estimates putting the number killed much higher.
Millennials and Gen Z are more likely to be pro-Palestine
Those disapproving of the war tend to skew younger – and this has been reflected in the pro-Palestine protests on campuses across the country.
At least 73 percent of those aged 18 to 29 disapprove of Israel’s war on Gaza, compared to 63 percent aged 30 to 44, 48 percent of those aged 45 to 64, and 49 percent of those who are 65 and older.
Only 5 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds strongly approve of the war, compared to 8 percent of 30 to 44-year-olds, and 25 percent of people aged 45 and above.
The polls also showed a significant racial bias regarding Israel's actions against Palestinians.
Racial bias
The majority of black people (78 percent) and Latinos (77 percent) polled opposed the war, with 59 percent of both communities opposing the war. Only 15 percent of Black people and 17 percent of Latinos approved the war, with five and nine percent approving it, respectively.
These statistics were in sharp contrast to white people polled, with less than half of white people disapproving of the war (48 percent) and another 44 percent approving of the war, near parity. Eight percent of people chose not to cast a vote either way.
At least 58 percent of those who did not identify themselves as black, Latino, or white disapproved of the war, in comparison to 30 percent who did.
Overall, the results show that people who were not white were more likely to empathise with the Palestinians with 71 percent of non-white people disapproving of Israel’s war on Gaza, compared to 48 percent of white people.
In addition, only 20 percent of non-white people approved of the war.
Education
Having a college degree was also likely to sway those polled about Israel’s war on Gaza. 64 percent of those with a BA were likely to disapprove of the conflict, versus 51 percent of those who didn’t have one. The data was more on a par for those approving the conflict, with 32 percent of those with a BA and 39 percent without a BA approving the war.
The link between education and race showed surprising results – while there were significant differences between college-educated and non-educated white folks on Israel’s war, the data for non-white people showed greater parity whether one was educated or not.
When it came to disapproving of the war, 74 percent of non-white college-educated people and 70 percent of non-white non-college-educated people disapproved. This is in contrast to 60 percent of white college-educated people and 40 percent of white non-college-educated people disapproving of the conflict.
Around a fifth of non-white college-educated people (22 percent) and non-white non-college-educated people (20 percent) approved of the war, compared to a third of white college-educated people (35 percent) and around half of white non-college-educated people (49 percent).
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