To judge by the headlines in several major news outlets, a recent Gallup poll suggests a sharp drop in Americans’ sympathy for the Jewish state. Mitchell Bard explains that, to the contrary, the data show little change from previous years:

It is true that overall support for Israel did fall from its all-time high of 64 percent to 59 percent—its lowest point since 2009. Nevertheless, that figure is still well above the historical average of 48 percent registered in the 89 Gallup polls since the Six-Day War. [Looking at a longer timeline], support for Israel has been on the upswing. In the 1970s, the average level of support for Israel was 44 percent; in the 1980s and 1990s, it was 47 percent, including the record highs during the Gulf War. Since 2000, support for Israel is averaging 54 percent. . . .

The real hysteria has focused on an alleged decline in Democratic support for Israel. But the data do not justify such concern. Yes, 76 percent of Republicans compared to 43 percent of Democrats were more sympathetic toward Israel than toward the Palestinians. This sounds bad—unless you know that support among Democrats in 37 polls since 1993 averaged 46 percent. Support for Israel was lower than that in the mid-1970s.

[Yet] support for Israel among liberal Democrats has remained consistent for a decade. Furthermore, when asked their attitude toward Israel this year, 58 percent of liberal Democrats and 66 percent of moderate and conservative Democrats had a favorable view, and only 9 percent viewed Israel very unfavorably. . . .

And what about the whole notion of [large numbers] of Jews leaving the Democratic party for the Republicans? . . . The poll also found that “only 16 percent” of Jews identified as Republican. That is exactly the same percentage that the American Jewish Committee found in its 2018 survey.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.