Mixed views about Hamas and Israel, per poll

(JNS) — America’s youngest adults continue to be an outlier in their views of Hamas and Israel, according to a poll released on Monday.

The Harvard Harris poll for March found that 48 percent of American 18- to 24-year-olds say they support Hamas over the Jewish state, making them the only age demographic for which Israel did not enjoy at least double-digit support over the terrorist group in the Gaza Strip.

By contrast, 93 percent of Americans 65 and older say they support Israel compared to just 7 percent who say they support Hamas. Overall, 77 percent of Americans say they support Israel compared with 23 percent who say they support Hamas.

Harvard/Harris conducted the online poll of 2,746 registered voters from March 26-27.

Despite nearly half of 18- to 24-year-olds saying that they support Hamas, their responses to the poll are less dramatically out of line with other age cohorts when asked about what should be done with the terror group.

Only 37 percent of the youngest U.S. adults believe that Hamas should be allowed to govern Gaza after the war, compared to 24 percent of the overall U.S. population that says the same.

Regarding hostages taken from Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, 65 percent of Americans aged 18 to 24 say that the terrorists must “release all remaining hostages without any conditions or face serious consequences,” compared to 80 percent of the overall U.S. population.

Americans are more divided about how to approach other regional crises. Some 72 percent of Americans believe that Iran’s nuclear-weapons facilities should be destroyed, but only 59 percent say they would back an Israeli airstrike on those facilities.

Asked if they support or oppose U.S. President Donald Trump’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, 54 percent say they support his approach and 46 percent oppose, with Republicans overwhelmingly supporting the administration’s efforts and Democrats overwhelmingly opposing them. Independents narrowly oppose Trump’s approach by 52 percent.