Just 23% of Americans say Israeli military actions in Gaza are fully justified, CNN poll finds

CNN

3 days ago

Americans are increasingly skeptical of Israeli actions in Gaza, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS that also finds rising sentiment that the US should pull back on military aid to Israel.
Only 23% of Americans say Israel's actions have been fully justified, a 27-point drop from a October 2023 poll taken shortly after Hamas' October 7 attacks. Another 27% now say those actions have been partially justified and 22% say that they have not been justified at all. In October 2023, just 8% said Israel's actions were not justified at all.
This drop cuts across party lines but is far larger among Democrats and independents. Since 2023, the share of Democrats who say that Israel's actions have been fully justified has dropped from 38% to just 7%, the share among independents from 45% to 14%, and the share among Republicans from 68% to 52%.
Since this March, the share of Democrats and Democratic-leaning adults saying that the US provides too much military aid for Israel has risen from 44% to 59% while the share of Republican-aligned adults saying that has stayed steady at 24%. Democratic-aligned adults under the age of 35 are particularly opposed to US military aid to Israel, with 72% saying the US is doing too much, including 43% who say that the US should stop aid to Israel entirely and another 29% saying that it should reduce the amount of military aid.
Younger adults across parties express the most skepticism towards Israel. Just 1 in 10 adults under 35 say that Israel's military actions in Gaza have been fully justified while a third say that Israel's actions have not been justified at all. Younger adults are also most likely to say that Israel has used too much military force (61%) and that the US is doing too much to help Israel in its war with Hamas (56%).
People of color are similarly skeptical: 13% say that Israel's actions in Gaza have been fully justified, compared to 29% saying they have not been justified at all. Nearly 6 in 10 people of color. (57%) say Israel has used too much military force.
Americans are split on Israel's use of military force and American aid to Israel. Half of Americans say that Israel has used too much military force in Gaza (39% say the amount of force has been about right and 10% say it's been too little). A rising share says the US is doing too much to help Israel in its war with Hamas (42%, up from 34% in March of this year and 33% in January 2024), with 42% saying the US is doing the right amount to help and 14% too little. Americans who think the US is doing too much split evenly between reducing military aid (22% of all adults) and stopping it entirely (21%).
The rising share of Americans who express concerns about the extent of US aid to Israel comes amid broader questions about the nation's involvement in international affairs.
A majority (56%) say the US should not take a leading role in trying to solve international problems (43% said the US should take such a role), a change from March, when the public split roughly evenly.
Democratic-aligned adults in particular have shifted away from support for an active US role in the world. A majority of Democrats and Democratic-leaners (58%) said the US should take a leading role in solving international problems in March, weeks after the confrontation in the Oval Office between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump, and Vice President JD Vance led to a pause in US military aid to Ukraine. That portion is down to 44% now, a reversion to more familiar ground (42% of Democratic-aligned adults favored a leading role in 2004 and 37% said the same in 2015). This poll was fielded weeks after the US military struck three nuclear sites in Iran, an action that was deeply unpopular among Democrats.
The split among Democratic-aligned adults in the country's role in international affairs further divides the party's views on Israel. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning adults who say the US should not take a leading role generally, just 25% think Israel's military actions against Hamas have been fully or partially justified (compared to 61% among those who say the US should take a leading role), and they're about twice as likely to favor halting US military aid to Israel (37%, compared to 19% of those who say the US should take a leading role).
Before Trump was first elected, Republican-aligned adults were more supportive of the US taking a leading role (65% in 2004 and 54% in 2015), and the Republican Party has historically been more inclined toward US interventionism. After Trump made the end of US interventionism a key pillar of his presidential campaigns, the party has become split between more traditional hawks and isolationists, and Republican-aligned adults now split evenly on whether the country should take a leading role.
Reflecting the more traditional view, one Republican from North Carolina included in the poll writes that helping Ukraine defeat Russia is the most important issue facing the country. But other Republicans felt that US interventionism led to worse outcomes for American citizens, including one person from Pennsylvania who says that 'we help and worry about people in other countries before our own. I think we need to make our country and people great again before we can help others.'
Still, foreign affairs are top of mind for few Americans, with just 5% naming an issue related to foreign policy as the most important issue facing the country.
Americans remain broadly skeptical of Trump's handling of foreign affairs (40% approve to 60% disapprove, almost identical to April). In the aftermath of the US military strikes in Iran, the public also expresses doubt about Trump's handling of his role as commander-in-chief, with an approval rating of 40% and a disapproval rating of 59%, higher than at any point in his first term – including January 2020, when his disapproval rating stood at 53% shortly after he ordered the assassination of an Iranian military leader, Qasem Soleimani.
A majority of the public (53%) also say that Trump's foreign policy decisions have hurt America's standing in the world, compared to just 31% who say his decisions have helped America's standing (15% say they have not made any difference). One independent in Michigan responding to the poll writes that the most important issue facing the country is how 'the world is now viewing the United States. We were a beacon of hope at one time. Not anymore.'
While Republicans generally approve of Trump's handling of foreign affairs (86% approve) and his role as commander-in-chief (84%), a smaller portion (69%) say his foreign policy decisions have helped America's standing in the world (15% say they have hurt and 17% that they haven't made any difference). Democrats have a more uniformly negative view of Trump's handling of foreign affairs: 93% say they disapprove of his handling of foreign affairs, 91% how he handles his role as commander-in-chief, and 89% say his decisions have hurt America's standing in the world (with just 4% saying they've helped).
Several key figures in the Trump administration's handling of foreign affairs are viewed unfavorably by the American people, including Vance (45% unfavorable to 33% favorable), Secretary of State Marco Rubio (36% unfavorable to 24% favorable), and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (34% unfavorable to 17% favorable). Among Republicans, all three are broadly popular, though with sizable shares still unsure about their feelings on Rubio or Hegseth.
The CNN poll was conducted by SSRS from July 10-13 among a random national sample of 1,057 US adults drawn from a probability-based panel. Surveys were either conducted online or by telephone with a live interviewer. Results among all adults have a margin of sampling error of ±3.5 percentage points.
CNN's Jennifer Agiesta and Ariel Edwards-Levy contributed to this report.