According to a new survey by Harvard-Harris (the polling company The Harris Poll and Harvard University’s Center for American Political Studies), published this week – in the opinion of the great majority of Americans, Israel should continue to attack Rafah in order to end the war, even though this will involve casualties. The survey showed that the Americans largely want a ceasefire in the war, but only after Hamas is removed from power and the abductees are returned.
The survey was conducted in the USA between April 24-25, 2024 among 1,961 citizens aged 18 to 65+.
According to the survey, 80% of respondents said they support Israel in the war, compared to 20% who support Hamas. The findings are more or less on the same scale as the survey findings from last month, in which 79% stated that they support Israel more.
Support for Israel is more evident among older age groups than among younger respondents, although a clear majority of each age group supported Israel more than Hamas.
According to the survey results, more than 90% of those aged 65 and over and those aged 55-64 said they support Israel more, with 85% of those aged 45-54 and 75% of those aged 35-44 saying the same.
Support for Israel was the lowest among the youngest age groups – 64% of 25-34 year olds and 57% of 18-24 year olds said they support Israel more.
Mark Penn, chairman of the polling company The Harris Poll, analyzed the poll by saying that support for Israel “hasn’t moved” despite the “campus unrest”.
According to him, the student protest is not consistent with the attitudes of the wider American public towards Israel. He noted that the survey showed that the Americans largely want a ceasefire in the war, but only after Hamas is removed from power and the kidnapped are returned.
The survey found that 61% of respondents supported a ceasefire only after the existence of these conditions, while 39% supported an unconditional ceasefire. The trend in the survey according to which the answer tends to favor Israel as the age group increases continues with this question as well. Among those aged 65 and over, 80% supported a ceasefire only after the fall of the Hamas regime and the return of the abductees compared to 67% support for a ceasefire without preconditions among those aged 18-24.
Regarding Rafah, the respondents were asked: “Should Israel move forward with the operation in Rafah to end the war with Hamas, doing its best to prevent civilian casualties even though there will be casualties, or should it withdraw now and allow Hamas to continue running Gaza?”. To this question, more than 70% answered that Israel should move forward with the operation in Rafah. Among 18-24 year olds, 57% answered this way, with the percentages increasing with each increase in the age group.
Israel’s values
The survey also found that 67% believed that Israel is trying to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza in its war against Hamas; 78% believed that at the end of the war Hamas should not control Gaza; 71% believed that the crisis in Gaza was mainly created by Hamas.
Iran is involved and dangerous:
75% believed that Iran was behind the attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah on Israel (including the attack on October 7); 69% believed that Iran was to blame for the escalation in the Middle East, while 31% believed that Israel was to blame for it.
80% believed that Iran poses a great danger, both to the US and to the Middle East; 80% believed that action should be taken to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons; 67% believed that the best way to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons is not through negotiations but through the imposition of sanctions, Isolation and “imposing a heavy price due to the search for such weapons”; and 65% believed that it was impossible to negotiate an agreement with Iran that would prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons, and that the Iranians would violate any such agreement.
The pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campuses are anti-Semitic
Regarding anti-Israel demonstrations on campuses in the US, 69% indicated that there is a large degree of anti-Semitism in the campus demonstrations; 63% believed that campuses are currently unsafe for Jews (including wearing Jewish symbols such as the Star of David); 80% supported the suspension of students and professors who call for violence against Jews; 64% believed that the leaders of private higher education institutions are not doing enough to prevent anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews on campuses; and 64% believed that there is a problem with what higher education institutions in the US teach children today.
