Nearly three-quarters of Americans say it is either somewhat or very important for the U.S. government to provide military aid to Israel in its war against Hamas, a survey released by CNBC on Wednesday found.
The CNBC survey revealed that 74% of respondents say the U.S. should help Israel through military funding, 2 points more than the 72% who say it’s important for the U.S. government to fund securing the southern border and to send Mexico foreign humanitarian aid.
On Wednesday President Joe Biden traveled to Israel, where he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and delivered a speech promising to ask Congress for an “unprecedented support package” for the country as it seeks to wipe out the terrorist organization Hamas in response to the massacre it carried out on Oct. 7.
Hamas' surprise attacks, which have been compared to the 9/11 attacks on the U.S., left more than 1,400 people dead in Israel, including Americans. Hamas also took about 200 hostages to Gaza.
After a hospital in Gaza was bombed on Tuesday, Biden's scheduled summit with Arab leaders in Jordan was canceled (by them). Hamas and Israel have blamed each other for the bombing, but Biden said Wednesday that an errant missile fired from within Gaza, and not from Israel, was responsible.
The Biden administration is drafting a $100 billion foreign aid package that includes assistance for Israel, as well as other top security priorities.
Details on the spending request were still being finalized ahead of an official request sent by the White House to Congress this week, ABC News reported.
The CNBC survey on military aid for Israel compared results with those of a August 2014 survey conducted by NBC News following the Gaza War. The results show that support for Israel has grown 5 points since 2014, from 34% to 39%. Support for Palestine grew 2 points, but remains low, at 6%.
Still, 36% of respondents believe the U.S. should treat Israel and Palestine equally, down from 53% in 2014; 19% of respondents in 2023 are undecided, up from 9% in 2014.
“There’s a real generational split on this question,″ Jay Campbell, partner at Hart Research Associates, the Democratic pollster for the survey, said. “Younger Democrats have increased their sympathies on both sides of the ledger to a certain degree, whereas Democrats over age 50 are really much more in support of Israel than Palestinians at this point in time.”
The survey also found that the public gives President Biden poor reviews for his handling of foreign policy. Only 31% of respondents approve, while 60% disapprove.
The CNBC All-America Economic Survey was conducted Oct. 11-15 among 1,001 Americans. It has a margin of error of 3.1%.
Peter Malbin ✉
Peter Malbin, a Newsmax writer, covers news and politics. He has 30 years of news experience, including for the New York Times, New York Post and Newsweek.com.
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