The majority of American adults have an unfavorable view of Israel, a new Pew Research Center survey has found.
The survey – which was conducted between March 23-29 on 3,507 US adults – revealed that 60% view Israel in a negative way (“very unfavorable” or "somewhat unfavorable”). This is an increase of 7% from last year and almost 20% since 2022. The percentage of those who chose “very unfavorable” (28%) has almost tripled from 10% in 2022.
In both political parties, a majority of adults under 50 now rate Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu negatively.
80% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents currently have an unfavorable view of Israel, and Democrats under 50 are slightly more likely than older Democrats to say they have a very unfavorable view of Israel. However, the majority of Republicans and Republican leaners view Israel favorably (58% vs. 41%). Nevertheless, the share of Republicans with a negative view has surged since last year, driven by those under 50.
The survey also found that views on Israel differ substantially among religious groups. Jewish Americans and White evangelical Protestants have mostly positive views of Israel, at 64% and 65%, respectively.
Favorable views of Israel are much less common among White non-Evangelical Protestants (39%), Catholics (35%), and Black Protestants (33%). Among Muslim Americans, only 4% see Israel positively.
US opinions on Netanyahu, Trump
Regarding Netanyahu, 59% of those surveyed have little or no confidence in him to do the right thing regarding world affairs, up from 52% last year.
A sizable majority of Democrats (76%) lack confidence in Netanyahu, and around half of Democrats now say they have no confidence at all in Netanyahu.
Republicans have mixed views on this: 45% have a lot or some confidence in him, while 44% have little or no confidence.
In terms of their own political leader, more than half of Americans (55%) lack confidence in President Donald Trump to make good decisions when it comes to the relationship between the US and Israel. This has remained at a constant level since August 2025.
However, Pew found that Americans are slightly more confident in Trump’s approach to the US-Israel relationship than in his ability to make good decisions on many other foreign policy issues, including US policy toward Iran (35%).
Taken around a month into the US-Israel strikes in Iran, the research reflects a continued rise in unfavorable views of Israel among Americans, alongside persistently low confidence in Netanyahu and steady skepticism toward US leadership on the issue.