The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on Congress to listen to the American people instead of anti-Palestinian lobby groups after a recent Gallup poll showed that most Americans sympathize with Palestinians over Israel in the wake of the Gaza Genocide.
For the first time in 25 years of Gallup polling, more Americans say they sympathize with Palestinians than with Israelis, 41% versus 36%. But the trend over the last year shows how suddenly U.S. public opinion has soured on Israel, slipping 10 percentage points in 12 months. At the same time, Israel’s favorable rating has declined to near its historical low in Gallup’s polling. Some 65% of Democrats say their sympathies lie more with the Palestinians, while 17% say they sympathize more with the Israelis.
Seven in 10 Republicans (70%) say they sympathize more with the Israelis, compared with 13% who sympathize more with the Palestinians. Although this remains a substantial gap, sympathy for the Israelis among Republicans has declined by 10 points since 2024 to its lowest level since 2004.
In a statement, CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw said:
“For the past three years, the American people have directly witnessed the genocidal brutality unleashed by the Israeli government with American taxpayer dollars. Americans increasingly recognize that they have been told lies for decades, and that their tax dollars are responsible for enabling some of the most egregious crimes against humanity witnessed in the 21st century. It is time for Congress to start listening to the American people, instead of anti-Palestinian lobby groups, and to stop bankrolling the genocidal Israeli government.”
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com