Americans gave US President Donald Trump's approach to Israel and Gaza – and his foreign policy in general – mixed reviews in a recent poll, with more than 60 per cent against his stated goal of taking over the coastal enclave.
The Pew Research Centre poll, which surveyed 3,605 US adults between March 24 and 30, indicates that Mr Trump's foreign policy actions overall are receiving mixed or negative reviews.
Asked by the Pew Research Centre about his approach to the Middle East conflict, 31 per cent of those surveyed said Mr Trump favours the Israelis too much, while 29 per cent said he is "striking the right balance". Three per cent felt that he favours the Palestinians too much.
A previous Pew poll indicated that 21 per cent of those surveyed felt former president Joe Biden was favouring Israel too much, while 20 per cent thought he was siding with the Palestinians, and 18 per cent felt he was striking the right balance.
Mr Trump has said he wants the US to take over Gaza, which he would develop into a resort area. The plan involves displacing Gaza's more than two million Palestinians. Sixty-two per cent of Americans oppose the US taking over Gaza, including 49 per cent who strongly oppose it, Pew said in its report.
A large number of those surveyed expressed doubt it would even happen, with about 38 per cent saying it is either not too likely or not at all probable that Mr Trump will pursue this policy, and 20 per cent saying it is likely.
In a separate poll of 3,605 US adults conducted right before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most recent visit to Washington, Pew Research found that the Israel-Gaza war is becoming less important to Americans, with 66 per cent of US adults saying the war is either very or somewhat important for national interests – down nine points since last year.
Views of Israel have also become more negative. "More than half of US adults [53 per cent] now express an unfavourable opinion of Israel, up from 42 per cent in March 2022 – before the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, and the ensuing Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip," Pew Research Centre said.
More Americans disapprove of Mr Trump's decision to end most USAID programmes, as well as his move to leave the World Health Organisation and the Paris Climate Agreement, according to the first poll.
The poll numbers also show concern from the US electorate on whether Mr Trump is being fair with the Russia-Ukraine war.
Forty-three per cent of those surveyed feel that he is favouring Russia too much, while 31 per cent say that he is "striking the right balance", with 3 per cent saying that he favours Ukraine too much.
According to highlights from the Pew poll, older Americans are more likely to approve of Mr Trump's foreign policy than younger Americans, and Republicans give Mr Trump's foreign policy better marks than those identifying as Democrats.
Mr Trump's recently announced tariffs that caused world markets to plunge also received more negative than positive responses from those polled by Pew.
Most polls taken before the 2024 presidential election and exit polls shortly after showed US voters giving Mr Trump higher marks for his economic positions than foreign policy positions.
Yet the recently announce tariffs could put those hopes into a tailspin as stock markets shed value and consumer prices are likely to increase as a result.
