A Harvard-Harris poll published last week shows an overall American voting population that is broadly supportive of Israel, but a sizeable young minority that supports Hamas over Israel and views the war in Gaza as a genocide against the Palestinians.
In the poll, which surveyed 2,346 American registered voters between January 17-18 and is weighted to be representative of the voting population, American voters of all ages say that they are paying attention to the war between Israel and Hamas, including about 40% who say they are following it very closely. A quarter say they are following the war, but not very closely, and only 8% say they are not paying attention at all.
The poll did not ask what respondents believe happened on October 7, or otherwise inquire much into respondents’ beliefs about objective facts on the ground. On questions of morality and the intentions of the various actors, however, Americans of different ages starkly disagree: most above the age of 35 generally support Israel and agree with its understanding of the war, while younger people, particularly those 18-24, often agree with the perspective of Hamas and its allies.
43% of respondents aged 18-24 explicitly answered that in this conflict, they support Hamas more than Israel.
Likewise, a majority of young voters in America favor an unconditional ceasefire that leaves everyone, including Israeli hostages, where they are now, over Israel continuing to fight until the hostages are released and Hamas is removed from power.
Large numbers of young voters sympathize with Hamas, Oct 7 attack
About a quarter of American voters 18-35 say they don’t believe “the recent attack on Israel” was a terrorist attack and deny that it was genocidal in nature. Almost half of American young people agree that the “killing of 1200 Israeli civilians and the kidnapping of another 250 civilians can be justified by the grievances of Palestinians.”
A majority of voters 18-24 believe “Israel is committing genocide against those in Gaza,” and those 25-34 are split. Among those 35-44, a slight minority believe this. Among those 55-64, a little under a quarter do, and of respondents age 65 and older, the vast majority (85%) said they don’t believe Israel is committing a genocide, rather “just trying to defend itself and eliminate Hamas.”
Most Americans agree that Hamas would like to commit genocide against the Jews, but a majority of those 18-24 believe it is an organization that can be negotiated with to create peace. These numbers go down as the respondents get older, with only 14% of seniors believing Hamas can be negotiated with for peace, and 86% saying it is “dedicated only to the destruction of Israel.”
Despite the sympathy that young Americans report for Hamas, American voters’ opinion of Israel overall remains positive: in fact, Israel’s net favorability (+25) is higher than that of the US Supreme Court, the Department of Justice, and the Black Lives Matter movement. Only 13% of respondents say they have a "very unfavorable" opinion of Israel, less than half the 31% who have a "very unfavorable" opinion of Black Lives Matter.