A plurality of Americans want President Biden to begin taking a tougher stance on Israel and want a cease-fire in the war against Hamas, a new poll found prior to Iran’s attack.
Thirty-four percent of respondents felt that Biden is “not tough enough” on Israel, while 17% felt he is too tough, 26% believe he is handling it just right, and 24% aren’t sure, per a Politico-Morning Consult poll.
Although taken before Tehran’s unprecedented military strike against Israel Saturday, the poll sheds light on the thorny politics Biden is grappling with domestically on Israel.
Democrats in particular were most likely to want Biden to toughen up on the critical US ally in the Middle East, with 33% feeling he is “not tough enough on Israel,” compared to 12% of Republicans and 19% of Independents.
A paltry 8% of Democrats felt Biden was “too tough” and 42% said that the president’s handling of the situation was “just right.”
Additionally, among the public writ large, 47% strongly support the US calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, while 20% somewhat support that call, 15% somewhat or strongly oppose it, and 17% are unsure.
Biden, 81, pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cut a deal with Hamas for a cease-fire in exchange for hostages earlier this month. He wants a pause in fighting to send critical humanitarian aid to Gaza.
However, negotiations have repeatedly stalled amid heightened concerns over how many hostages are still alive.
Still, despite the quibbling over how supportive of Israel Biden should be, a plurality of Americans favor the Israelis in the conflict, the survey revealed.
When asked about whom they were more sympathetic toward, 29% of respondents said Israel, 14% the Palestinians, 37% equally both sides, and 20% said they don’t know.
Among Democrats, 22% were more sympathetic toward the Palestinians, 16% the Israelis, while 44% said both.
Meanwhile, Republicans sided with the Israelis over the Palestinians by a 45% to 7% margin, while Independents hewed that way 25% to 13%.
On whether the US should cut off aid to Israel, 41% of Democrats support doing so while 33% were opposed, compared to 33% of Americans overall in favor of cutting off aid and 44% in opposition.
That poll was conducted from April 5 to 7 among 6,004 registered voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percentage point for the overall group surveyed.
Separately, a CBS YouGov poll found a growing number of Americans want Biden to push Israel to ease up its military campaign in the war against Hamas.
When asked about what Biden should encourage Israel to do, 37% said cease military actions and 23% said decrease military actions; surpassing the 28% who want Biden to push Israel to maintain the current level of action and 12% who want an increase.
That’s an uptick from the 31% who want Biden to push for a stop to its military actions and 24% who want a decrease in military actions; compared to the 32% who want Biden to push Israel to keep up the same level of actions and 13% who want an increase back in February.
In terms of sympathies, 32% said they sympathize “a lot” with the Israelis, while 46% said the same about the Palestinians.
That’s a sharp reversal from October, when 44% said their sympathies lie with the Israelis and 39% with the Palestinians, according to the CBS poll.
Like Politico, the CBS poll was conducted prior to Iran’s historically unprecedented strike against Israel.
When presented with the hypothetical of Iran attacking Israel, 25% backed military action against Iran, 42% wanted the US to support Israel’s actions without getting involved militarily, and 32% wanted the US to stay out of it.
The CBS poll was taken from April 9 to 12 among 2,399 adults with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.