Nearly three-quarters of Americans say they disapprove of how President Joe Biden is handling the Israel-Palestine conflict, according to a new poll.
The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research’s latest polling, released Wednesday, says that 73% of Americans disapprove of how the president is handling the conflict, compared to 26% who approve. The disapproval rating is a new high since the question was first asked in June 2021.
For most of 2023, the disapproval rate stayed steady, bouncing around 61% and 63%. But as the fighting in Gaza dragged on and calls for a ceasefire increased, the disapproval rate started to climb in January 2024.
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Earlier this year, 67% disapproved, with a minor dip in late March to 65%. At that time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would be sending officials to speak with the Biden administration about the then-upcoming Rafah offensive, according to Aljazeera.
The poll surveyed 1,088 adults between June 20-24, and had a 4% margin of error.
The latest chapter in the Israel-Palestine conflict started on October 7, when Hamas launched an attack on the Gaza Envelope. Hamas launched over 3,000 rockets as well as paragliders into Israel, the first invasion on Israeli territory since 1948. On that day, 1,139 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage.
Shortly after, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that the “entire nation” of Palestine was responsible for the October 7 attacks, saying Palestinian civilians “could have risen up, they could have fought against that evil regime which took over Gaza in a coup d’état.”
Since then, Israel has retaliated with attacks and blockades, damaging or destroying half of Gaza’s buildings by the end of January, according to the BBC. The UN has warned of a “high risk” of famine over the blockades on humanitarian aid, the BBC reported. Israeli forces have also attacked hospitals, with officials saying that terrorists were hiding there. Approximately 34,900 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict as of May, according to Time Magazine.
There have been protests calling for a ceasefire around the world, including several in America. Some countries, like Canada, have cut off funding to Israel.
However, while Biden has called for a ceasefire, he has not cut funding. Rather, in April, he signed a bill to send more money to the country, according to Politifact. Biden has instead elected to use more soft power in discouraging the war’s continuation.
“Well, I will tell you, I think what he’s doing is a mistake. I don’t agree with his approach,” Biden said in April, following an Israeli military strike that killed seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen, according to CNN.
Former President Donald Trump has mostly ignored the conflict. In April, though, he said Israel was “losing the PR war,” and thus needed to end the Gaza war “fast,” according to the Associated Press.
“Get it over with and let’s get back to peace and stop killing people. And that’s a very simple statement,” Trump said. “They have to get it done. Get it over with and get it over with fast because we have to — you have to get back to normalcy and peace.”