New US polling has found over a quarter of Democrats feel the party’s policies are overly supportive of Israel.
The University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll asked respondents a range of questions covering topics such as US policy on Israel and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
The poll found that 57 percent of respondents did not know the position of the US administration on Israel. Of those who did express an opinion, 26% of Democrats felt that government policy was more skewed towards Israel than their own views, only 3% felt the policy was overly favorable toward Palestinians, and 15% said policies matched their views.
Meanwhile, 44% of Republicans felt the Biden administration leaned more toward Palestinians than their own views, while 9% felt it leaned more toward Israel.
Attitudes on BDS showed a clear partisan split, with 33% of Democrats supporting the movement, as opposed to just 9% of Republicans who support it. Republican opposition to BDS was at 50%, whereas Democrat opposition was at just 10%. Fifty-seven percent of Democrats either did not know what BDS was or had no stance, compared to 41% of Republicans.
