Democrats and Republicans are divided over Israel’s role in the war: AP-NORC poll

WASHINGTON (AP) — Many American voters are concerned that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East will escalate into an all-out regional war, a new poll shows. About half of voters are “extremely” or “very” concerned about the possibility of broader war in the region.

While there are concerns about growing conflict, research by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs ResearchFewer voters — about four in 10 — are concerned that the United States will become involved in a war in the Middle East. This survey was conducted previously Israeli attack on military bases in Iran on Friday.

The conflict in the Middle East has become a major campaign issue, as have former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris attempt to win over Muslim and Jewish voters in battleground states like Michigan and Pennsylvania. And while Democrats and Republicans are also concerned about the possibility of the war spreading, they disagree over who is responsible for its recent escalation and how the US should become involved in the future.

Partisan divisions over the Israeli government’s level of responsibility

About six in 10 voters say the Palestinian militant group Hamas, the Iranian government and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah bear “a lot” of responsibility for the escalation of the war in the Middle East. About 4 in 10 voters think the Israeli government has “a lot” of responsibility, and only about 2 in 10 say the U.S. government has “a lot” of responsibility.

But there is deep division over whether the Israeli government bears “much” responsibility for the escalation of the war. About six-in-ten Democrats say so – similar to the share of Democrats who say Hamas bears “a lot” of responsibility – while only about a quarter of Republicans say the Israeli government bears “a lot” of responsibility.

Voters support sanctions on Iran, but do not send US troops

Voters broadly support economic sanctions on Iran, which could hamper support for its proxy groups Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. A majority, 55%, is in favor of imposing sanctions. They are about evenly split on whether the US should supply weapons to the Israeli military, and voters are more likely to oppose sending government funds to help the Israeli military than to support it.

Deploying American troops to aid the Israeli military has little support among voters, regardless of their partisan affiliation. About half of voters are against the use of American troops to help the Israeli army. Only about 2 in 10 voters support deploying U.S. troops to help Israel, and a similar share has a neutral opinion.

Many think the US is doing what it can in terms of a ceasefire

The US is still pushing for it any movement on near-term ceasefire proposalsdespite past disappointments and little expectation of immediate breakthroughs prior to the elections.

About half of voters think the US is doing “as much as it can” to push for a ceasefire agreement between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah, while three in 10 say it could do more. About two in ten voters think the US should do less.

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to want less US involvement in ceasefire efforts. About 3 in 10 Republicans say the U.S. should do less, compared with about 1 in 10 Democrats. About six-in-ten Democrats say the U.S. is doing what it can, compared with about four-in-ten Republicans.

Democrats, Republicans and independents are about as likely to say the U.S. could do more.

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The poll of 1,072 adults was conducted October 11-14, 2024, using a sample from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for registered voters is plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.