The majority of the US public, including the Republican “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement, opposes Israeli annexation of the West Bank, according to a Thursday poll.
Most respondents also backed a peace agreement that would include Israeli normalization with Arab states, and a Palestinian state.
The poll, by the progressive Alliance for Middle East Peace coalition, came out as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday signed an agreement to push ahead with the controversial E1 settlement expansion program that will cut across land that the Palestinians seek for a state.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich characterized the move as annexation and Netanyahu declared that “there will be no Palestinian state.”
The Alliance for Middle East Peace is a coalition of groups that work toward peace between Israelis and Palestinians. The network includes more than 170 civil society organizations, including the progressive Women Wage Peace, the liberal Shalom Hartman Institute, and the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation.
The alliance is funded by individual donations and foundation grants, including from leftist groups like the New Israel Fund.
The poll, shared exclusively with The Times of Israel, found that among all voters, around 80% considered the Israeli-Palestinian conflict moderately to extremely important, and among MAGA voters, the figure was 69%.
The survey asked respondents about Israel taking parts of the West Bank “by force” and officially making the areas part of Israel in annexation, “instead of working toward a broader peace agreement that includes a Palestinian state.”
Two-thirds of respondents, including 55% of MAGA participants and 84% of Democrats, said they would “push back against annexation.”
The majority also supported a hypothetical US-backed peace agreement that would include normalization between Israel, Saudi Arabia, and other Arab countries, alongside Palestinian statehood. For MAGA supporters and Republicans in general, close to half would support such an agreement, more than a third would find it acceptable, and 61% of Democrats would back such a deal. Overall, 91% would either support or accept the arrangement.
A majority of respondents on the right were against a Palestinian state without normalization agreements, while in the center and on the left, a majority wanted or would accept a Palestinian state without normalization.
Most Republicans, 79%, and Independents, 52%, said US President Donald Trump’s leadership was “critical” for brokering a deal between the Israelis and Palestinians. For Democrats, 55% said Trump was not needed for a deal.
If Trump managed to broker a deal, his support would increase with three-quarters of Republicans and one-third of Democrats, although 57% of Democrats said they “wouldn’t care.”
A majority of every political group backed US financial support for peacebuilding initiatives between Israelis and Palestinians — 72% of Republicans, 67% of Independents, and 76% of Democrats. A majority of every group, including 73% of MAGA supporters, also said the US should spend more on peace-building than weapons for Israel.
Three-quarters of Democrats and 43% of Republicans said the US should only spend on peace-building initiatives, and not at all on weapons.
Among all groups, a large majority of at least 77% believed peace in the Middle East would reduce the need for US military involvement in the region.
The survey identified MAGA participants by asking respondents if they “identify as or support” the movement, yielding 249 supporters.
The survey queried 900 respondents last month and had a margin of error 3.2%. The margin of error for MAGA supporters was 6.2%.
The survey was conducted by the Alliance for Middle East Peace using the Remesh research platform.