Keller @ Large: New poll shows most Americans support Israel after Hamas attacks
BOSTON - In cities like Boston, large crowds at rallies suggest strong support for the Palestinians. But pull back wider to a poll's eye view of America, and it's a different story.
Asked which side their sympathies lie with in a national poll released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University, 61% of those surveyed said it's Israel, by a nearly five-to-one margin.
"In 2021, [support for Israel] was at one of the lowest levels we've seen and now suddenly in the last week it's at the highest level," says Quinnipiac Poll analyst Tim Malloy.
The sheer horror of the Hamas attacks - described as Israel's 9/11 - has evoked a post-9/11-like response from Americans, who overwhelmingly reject the argument by some that Israel brought this on itself, blaming Hamas for the outbreak of war by a huge margin, 72%-10%.
"We will continue to have Israel's back," said President Biden during a meeting with Israeli officials.
But while a plurality in the poll approves of Biden's handling of the situation so far, Malloy notes that in a situation like this, public opinion can be volatile. "We've never been here before, this broad an attack, this much hostility in the Arab world all at once so suddenly, also with another war going on a couple thousand miles away," Malloy said. "So, boy, a lot can change just in the next few days."
For now, the poll shows the public overwhelmingly sees support for Israel as in our interests, 76%-17%. But there's also overwhelming concern about potential escalation into a wider Middle East war.
It's a moment, says Malloy, for cool heads and the pursuit of knowledge. "It'd be a good time for everybody to get out a map and take a look at what Israel looks like and do a little reading historically on this thing because it's complicated and it's on top of us now and it could affect our lives directly," he says.
This poll was taken over four days concluding on Monday, before the disputed bombing of a Gaza hospital. Events like that can change public opinion quickly, as can a perception that a war originally seen as righteous is dragging on endlessly. Just ask the Ukrainians.