The shift in attitude of the mainstream liberal opinion, media, and political class in the United States toward Israel and the Palestinians was much emphasized and discussed during the recent round of protests and violence in the regional conflict that occurred in May. This shift is but the reflection of a trend that has been developing among young and nonwhite Americans in the past fifteen years, fueled by Israel’s successive rounds of violence against Gaza in particular.

The previous peak in conflict reached during Israel’s “Operation Protective Edge” against Gaza in July and August 2014 had seen, for the first time, more young Americans under thirty (aged eighteen to twenty-nine) blame Israel as the main culprit than those blaming Hamas (29 percent vs. 21 percent), according to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center; the same was observed among black Americans (27 percent vs. 25 percent) and, most strikingly, among Hispanics (35 percent vs. 20 percent), while liberal Democrats were evenly divided on the issue (30 percent vs. 30 percent).¹ During Israel’s war on Lebanon in 2006, there were still three times more young Americans blaming Hezbollah than those blaming Israel (30 percent vs. 10 percent). However, during “Operation Cast Lead” against Gaza in 2009, the margin in Israel’s favor among young Americans had considerably shrunk already (23 percent vs. 14 percent).²

The most recent poll that AP-NORC conducted in June, after the May 2021 events, surprisingly showed that there are more Americans, all categories combined, who believe the United States is not supportive enough of the Palestinians (32 percent) than of the Israelis (30 percent). Among Democrats, a majority of 51 percent now say that the United States is not supportive enough of the Palestinians, this majority reaching 62 percent among those who describe themselves as liberal.³