U.S. Public Split On Whether Israel's Gaza Attack Justified

A few days ago, I did a post showing that America's support for Israel is still strong, and unlikely to change in the near future -- and that the support cuts across all demographic lines. But the same cannot be said about the recent aggressive action Israel has taken against Gaza. As the death toll climbs into the hundreds of innocent civilians in Gaza, many Americans believe the Israeli invasion was not justified -- and in fact, the invasion only gets plurality support here in the United States (42%).

As you can see from the chart above, those who think the attack was justified is only slightly larger than those who say it is not -- a 3 point difference that is within the poll's margin of error. That means Americans are basically split over whether the attack on Gaza was justified.

Republicans, men, Whites, older Americans, and those with at least some college tend to think the attack was justified. But Independents, Democrats, women, Non-whites, younger Americans, and those with a HS diploma or less tend to think the attack was not justified.

Israel depends to a big extent on the monetary and military support from the United States. A huge majority of Americans think Israel has a right to exist. But Israel needs to reconsider their recent actions -- both regarding the aggression against the Palestinians and the continued theft of their land. They have exceeded their moral authority, and many Americans are starting to realize that -- and that could endanger at least some of the American support.

The chart above was made from information in a new Gallup Poll. That survey was done on July 22nd and 23rd of a random national sample of 1,016 adults, and has a 4 point margin of error.