President Joe Biden's policies toward Israel and the Middle East are generating much polarization in the country, with young people and some left-wing Democrats saying he is too aligned with Israel, and many Republicans and conservatives saying he is too pro-Palestinian.
In the latest Rasmussen Reports survey, 31% of likely U.S. voters rate Biden as doing a good or excellent job handling issues related to Israel and the Middle East, while 46% give him a poor rating on the issue.
Regarding the current conflict between Israel and Hamas terrorists in Gaza, 21% say Biden's policy is too pro-Israel, while 34% say Biden's policy is too pro-Palestinian, with 26% saying Biden's policy is about right.
Forty-three percent say, if Trump were elected president this year, his policies toward Israel and the Palestinians would be better than Biden's, while 37% think Trump's policies would be worse than Biden's.
Trump has been more favorably disposed in the past to the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. Biden, meanwhile, has recently criticized Israel's response in Gaza as "over-the-top."
Seventy-one percent of Republicans, 19% of Democrats, and 40% of unaffiliated voters say Trump's policies toward Israel and the Palestinians would be better than Biden's. But 65% of Democrats, 14% of Republicans, and 30% of unaffiliated voters say Trump's policies would be worse than Biden's.
More Democrats than Republicans say Biden's policies are too pro-Israel, with 30% of Democrats and 17% of both Republicans and unaffiliated voters agreeing. On the other hand, 55% of Republicans, 14% of Democrats, and 36% of unaffiliated voters say Biden's policy is too pro-Palestinian. Meanwhile, 40% of Democrats, 11% of Republicans, and 20% of unaffiliated voters say Biden's policy regarding the current conflict between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza is about right.
While a majority (54%) of Democrats rate Biden as doing a good or excellent job handling issues related to Israel and the Middle East, that opinion is shared by just 12% of Republicans and 23% of unaffiliated voters, according to Rasmussen's poll. Seventy percent of Republicans and 49% of unaffiliated voters give Biden a poor rating on the issue, as do 21% of Democrats.
Slightly more men (36%) than women voters (33%) say Biden's policy is too pro-Palestinian, and women voters are somewhat less likely than men to think Trump's policies toward Israel and the Palestinians would be better than Biden's.
There is disapproval for Biden's policies across all racial groups, with only 27% of whites, 38% of black voters, 39% of Hispanics, and 28% of other minorities rating Biden as doing a good or excellent job handling issues related to Israel and the Middle East.
Voters 65 and older are most likely to say Trump's policies toward Israel and the Palestinians would be better than Biden's. Voters under 40 are significantly more likely than their elders to believe Biden's policy is too pro-Israel.
Those with annual incomes between $50,000 and $100,000 are most likely to think Trump's policies would be better than Biden's.
The survey of 1,093 U.S. likely voters was conducted April 11 and 14-15, 2024, by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.