‘Historic Shift’: Polls Have Flipped to Favor Palestinians Over Israel For the ‘First Time Ever,’ Says Enten
The current war between Israel and the terror group Hamas has caused a “historic shift” in public opinion on Israelis and Palestinians, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten reported on Thursday.
Enten joined anchor John Berman on Thursday following the news that Israel and Hamas had signed a ceasefire agreement that would see the remaining hostages held by Hamas released. President Donald Trump announced remaining hostages would be released by early next week.
Enten, citing polling from Quinnipiac and The New York Times, noted that voters in October 2023 favored Israelis in the war by 48 points. Now, voters overall say they sympathize more with Palestinians by a plus-one margin. Enten broadened out the data to emphasize what a major shift this represents.
“I looked back at every single poll that I could possibly find since this question was first asked in the 1980s, this is the first time ever in which the Palestinians had any sort of lead on this particular question,” he said. “It is very clear that this war caused a historic shift away from the Israeli position in the Middle East conflict and toward the Palestinians when it comes to who Americans and voters sympathize with.”
Democrats have led this shift over time, Enten added, but the changes in public opinion have been bipartisan. Among Democrats, they have gone from “favoring” the Israelis by 26% in 2023 to the Palestinians by 46%.
On Republicans, Enten pointed to the shifting opinions among younger age groups.
Cited data from Quinnipiac, which includes independents who lean Republican, Republicans aged 18-49 sympathize more with Israelis than Palestinians. Among Republicans who are 50 years or older though, that number jumps to 66%.
“We’re talking about a 40-point difference with the youngest Republicans being far more sympathetic to the Palestinian position than older Republicans are,” Enten said.
“That’s a huge gap there, let’s just say that,” Berman said.
“It’s a huge gap and I’m going to be interested to see how the Republican Party adjusts going forward,” Enten added.
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