Israel-Palestine Barely Registers as an Issue For Young Americans In Shock Harvard Poll

Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics recently released its Spring 2024 poll of young voters 18 to 29 years old and offered some surprising findings regarding the 2024 election and how young people view the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Of the 2,010 young Americans polled, 5-to-1 (51% support, 10% oppose) favor a permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict, while “majorities of young Americans sympathize with the Israeli and the Palestinian people.”

However, attention paid to the conflict did not seem to mirror the strong sentiments seen on U.S. campuses across the country, which have been heavily covered in the media. The poll’s summary noted:

While only 38% of young Americans tell us that they are following the news about the war between Israel and Hamas very or somewhat closely, the proportion rises among registered voters (45%) and those most likely to vote in November (52%). Overall, we find that Democrats (49%) are more likely to follow this news closely compared to Republicans (32%), and those with a college degree (50%) are more likely to be following these events compared to current college students (39%) and those that never attended (32%).

The poll, which was conducted between March 14th and the 21st, also asked respondents to rate issues based on importance relative to other issues. Of the 16 issues polled, “Israel/Palestine” ranked as the 15th most important compared to the others – only viewed as more important than student debt.

Inflation, Healthcare, Housing, Gun Violence, and Jobs ranked as the top five most important issues – in that order. “The only issue time that inflation did not win its individual match-up was when it was paired with women’s reproductive rights. Women’s reproductive rights was considered the more important issue, 57% to 43%,” noted the poll.

In terms of how Israel has prosecuted its war against Hamas, a plurality was unsure whether or not Israel had “gone too far.”

“When young Americans are asked whether or not they believe Israel’s response so far to the October 7 attack by Hamas has been justified, a plurality indicates that they don’t know (45%). About a fifth (21%) report that Israel’s response was justified with 32% believing it was not justified. Across most subgroups, more young Americans say the actions of the Israeli government were unjustified than justified. Republicans see Israel’s actions as justified (36% justified, 16% not justified), while Democrats (14% justified, 44% not justified) and independents (19% justified, 30% not justified) feel the opposite is true,” noted the summary.

The poll found that Biden’s approval rating among young voters was at 31 percent overall. On the Israel-Hamas conflict, Biden landed at a dismal 18 percent approval and at 30 percent on the economy in general. Biden still leads Trump by 8 points among all young Americans and 19 points among those who are likely voters, which is down from 30 points at the same time in 2020.

Read the full poll results here.

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