Pew Poll Finds 44 Percent of Muslim Americans View Hamas Favorably

A Pew Research Center survey published Thursday found that 44 percent of Muslim American respondents expressed a favorable opinion of Hamas. The same poll showed lower shares among other groups, including 17 percent of Black Protestant respondents, 8 percent of Catholic respondents, and 4 percent of White evangelical Protestant respondents, New York Post reported.

Only 26 percent of Muslim American respondents held a favorable view of the Israeli people.

By comparison, 74 percent of White evangelical Protestant respondents, 55 percent of Black Protestant respondents, and 51 percent of Catholic respondents expressed favorable views of Israelis. Among U.S. adults under age 30, 58 percent held favorable views of the Palestinian people while 32 percent held favorable views of Israelis.

The split was wider among young Democrats, with 72 percent viewing Palestinians favorably and 26 percent viewing Israelis favorably. Young Republicans showed 40 percent favorable views of Palestinians and 42 percent of Israelis. Thirteen percent of adults under 30 expressed a favorable view of Hamas, including 16 percent of young Democrats and 11 percent of young Republicans.

Two percent of Jewish respondents and 11 percent of religiously unaffiliated respondents held favorable views of Hamas. Support for Israelis fell since 2022 among both parties. The share of Republicans with favorable views of Israelis declined from 77 percent to 65 percent, while the share among Democrats fell from 62 percent to 43 percent.

Support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government dropped from 65 percent to 51 percent among Republicans and from 35 percent to 16 percent among Democrats. White evangelical Protestants were the only religious group with a majority favorable view of Netanyahu’s government at 57 percent.