A new study has found that most Americans don’t want the United States to take over the war-ravaged Gaza Strip for real estate development, a policy that US President Donald Trump first proposed in February.
It also found that Americans across age groups and party lines feel less favorably toward Israel than they did before October 7, 2023, and over half don’t trust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do the right thing.
The survey by the Pew Research Center found that 62 percent of Americans oppose Trump’s oft-repeated proposal that the US should take over Gaza — including 49% who strongly oppose the idea — while 15% support it. In the president’s own party, 44% oppose the idea, and 27% support it.
However, 46% of Americans say it is somewhat or very likely that Trump will pursue the policy. The poll was published Tuesday and conducted prior to Trump’s meeting this week with Netanyahu, when he again floated the idea.
Trump asserted that his vision for Gaza has been well received — though it has been largely rejected publicly by most of the world.
“Having a peace force like the United States there controlling and owning the Gaza Strip would be a good thing,” Trump said, appearing to negate his aides’ previous attempt to downplay his claim last month that US troops would be deployed in Gaza.
US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (not seen) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, April 7, 2025. (Pool via AP)
In addition, the survey found that 53% of Americans overall have an unfavorable view of Israel, compared to 42% in 2022. Among Republicans, 37% view Israel unfavorably, compared to 27% in 2022; 69% of Democrats view Israel unfavorably, compared to 53% in 2022.
Young people in both parties have relatively high unfavorables toward Israel: 50% of Republicans under 49 and 71% of Democrats in that age group view Israel unfavorably.
“Younger and older Democrats alike have turned more negative toward Israel over these three years, but negative views among younger Democrats have grown by 9 points, compared with a 23-point increase among older Democrats,” the poll states. “Among Republicans, much of the shift in attitudes has come among younger adults. Republicans under 50 are now about as likely to have a negative view of Israel as a positive one (50% vs. 48%). In 2022, they were much more likely to see Israel positively than negatively (63% vs. 35%).”
The only US religious groups that have a majority favorable view toward Israel are Jews (at 73%) and Protestants (at 57%), according to the survey. In particular, 72% of white evangelicals view Israel favorably. Catholics are split at 53% unfavorable and 45% favorable. Among Muslims, 81% have an unfavorable view of Israel.
The results dovetail with a Gallup poll published in February that also found declining favorability toward Israel among Americans.
Asked about their opinion of Netanyahu, 52% of respondents expressed little or no confidence in him to “do the right thing regarding world affairs,” compared to 32% who do have such confidence in him. Pew noted the figure was similar to last year but reported that “the share of Americans with little or no confidence in Netanyahu rose significantly between 2023 and 2024.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, speaks alongside US President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 7, 2025. (Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images via AFP)
The Pew survey also found that Republicans and Democrats are split on Netanyahu: 51% of Republicans are confident that he will do the right thing, compared with just 15% of Democrats.
Among American Jews, 53% do not have confidence in Netanyahu, and 45% do. The only US religious group to demonstrate confidence in Netanyahu is white evangelical Protestants.
The poll also showed a drop in interest in the Israel-Hamas war as further time passes since the terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, with 54% saying the conflict is very or somewhat important to them personally, down from 65% last January.
Among Jews, 93% said it was important, including 74% who described it as “very important.”
The survey was conducted between March 24-30 and sampled 3,605 US adults.
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