Roughly half of young Americans say Israel should be “ended and given to Hamas and the Palestinians” amid the ongoing war despite continuing support for the Jewish state among older Americans, according to a new poll.
While 51 percent of 18–24-year-olds in the U.S. want Israel to lose to Hamas, that sentiment decreases significantly among the higher age brackets in the monthly Harvard CAPS/Harris poll. Thirty-one percent of 25–34-year-olds, 24 percent of 35–44-year-olds, 15 percent of 45–54-year-olds, 13 percent of 55–64-year-olds, and only 4 percent of Americans aged 65 and older say Israel should be wiped out.
In comparison, an overall 81 percent of Americans support Israel over Hamas. However, support between the two sides is split evenly among the 18–24 age bracket.
Although the slight majority of respondents in that age group support the genocide of Jews, 58 percent of respondents aged 18–24 say Hamas should be removed from running Gaza. The same group further displayed contradicting views, with 66 percent saying Hamas’s October 7 attack was genocidal and 60 percent answering that Israel’s campaign in Gaza also constitutes genocide.
Additionally, 32 percent of young Americans want Israel and Palestine to be recognized in a two-state solution and 17 percent think Arab states should absorb the Palestinians displaced by the conflict. Overall, a two-state solution was the preferred answer to that question, with 60 percent of all respondents favoring it.
The poll comes over 70 days since Hamas terrorists invaded Israel two months ago, killing over 1,200 people and kidnapping approximately 240. About 110 living hostages remain in Gaza, although that number has dropped in recent days.
On Friday, the Israel Defense Forces announced their troops had mistakenly shot and killed three Israeli hostages after mistaking them for enemy combatants in Gaza. A day later, the IDF said the hostages were shirtless and waving a makeshift white flag to surrender themselves before they were shot. The three were identified as Alon Shamriz, Yotam Haim, and Samer Talalka.
The latest Harvard CAPS/Harris poll was conducted December 13–14 among 2,034 registered voters.