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A new poll conducted by Harvard University and The Harris Poll found 51% of Americans aged 18 to 24 believe the way to end the Israeli Palestinian conflict is to end Israel and hand it over to Hamas and the Palestinians. A previous poll conducted soon after the Hamas massacre on October 7 found only 26% of those asked held those views.
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Some 32% of the young Americans polled said they believed in the two-state solution and 17% thought Arab nations should be asked to take in Palestinians – contrary to other age groups who clearly favored a two-state solution. Only 4% of Americans 65 or older, think Israel should be eliminated.
The younger aged Americans predominately said they sided with Hamas while among those over 65, support for Israel exceeds 96% and only 4% favor Hamas.
Over 60% of young Americans – a clear majority – believe the Hamas attack was justified and a result of the hardship of Palestinians while Israel is conducting a genocide. Some 67% said Jews were "oppressors," a position rejected by 73% of all participants in the poll, who said that was a "false ideology."
Amid the controversy over the conduct of universities in the face of anti-Israel protests on campus, 53% of young respondents said students should be allowed to call for the genocide of Jews without suffering any repercussions.
Among Americans in general, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen favorably by 36%, while 26% hold unfavorable views. This is a slight improvement for Netanyahu compared to an previous poll. Only 12% view Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas favorably while 27% hold unfavorable views regarding the Palestinian leader.
Support for U.S. President Joe Biden's policies on how the war in Gaza is being waged is also diminishing. Some 42% of respondents agree with how he has been managing the crisis, down from 45% in a previous poll. Most Americans said they were not in favor of Biden or Trump winning the 2024 presidential elections but if forced to chose between the two they preferred Trump. Some 48% want Trump to return to the White House while 42% favor a second Biden term.