Rising Disapproval of Biden on Israel-Hamas Conflict

Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel amidst the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict this weekend. According to Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, Iran launched over 300 drones and missiles at Israel, but 99% were intercepted before landing. From a U.S. political perspective, this attack on Israel raises questions about how the war will affect the presidential election later this year.

Recent polls indicate that President Joe Biden’s approval ratings regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict have consistently decreased since it began in October. In a recent CBS poll, the approval of his handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict was 33%, down from 44% in October.

This shift partly stems from increasing sympathy for Palestinians over Israelis. In October, 44% of Democrats sympathized “a lot” with Israelis, and 39% did so with Palestinians. Now, these percentages have almost reversed, with 46% of Democrats expressing a lot of sympathy for Palestinians and only 32% for Israelis.

This increasing sympathy for Palestinians has also altered the policy people want Biden to adopt with respect to Israel. In October, 48% of those polled supported sending weapons and supplies to Israel; now, only 40% do. The change is more pronounced among Democrats, with support dropping from 47% in October to 32% now.

Another poll from The Economist/YouGov showed even worse results for Biden. Only 26% of registered voters approved of his handling of the war, while 58% disapproved. Among Democrats, his approval stood at 48%, but notably, only 12% of independents approved of his handling of the war.

This decline in approval of Biden’s management of the conflict appears to be prompting him to consider limiting aid to Israel. After the State of the Union address last month on March 7, he was caught on a hot mic saying about humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Then, on April 4, he threatened to condition support for Israel if it did not take steps to protect aid workers and civilians in Gaza. Most recently, although U.S. military aircraft and ballistic missile defense ships were deployed to defend Israel from the latest attacks by Iran, Biden has reportedly told Netanyahu that the U.S. will not support or participate in any offensive operations against Iran.