Most Americans say they have "little or no confidence" that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will "do the right thing" in world affairs.
A poll released on Thursday by the Pew Research Center found that 53 percent of Americans have "little or no confidence" in the Israeli leader, including 25 percent who have no confidence in him at all.
Pew reports, "The share of Americans who have no confidence in Netanyahu has increased 11 percentage points since 2023. This includes an 8-point increase in the share who have no confidence in him at all."
The pollsters report mistrust of the Israeli politician increases as more people learn who he is.
"This shift is related to a change in awareness of Netanyahu. In 2023, around a quarter of Americans (26%) said they had never heard of him, but that share has fallen to 15% this year," the pollsters found.
Just 30 percent of respondents said they have "at least some confidence in" him.
There is also a large difference in trust along party lines.
"Republicans and Republican-leaning independents have much more positive views of Netanyahu than Democrats and Democratic leaners do. Around half of Republicans (51%) say they have at least some confidence in him to do the right thing regarding world affairs, while only 13% of Democrats say the same. Among Democrats, many more say they have no confidence in him at all (38%) than report even having some confidence in him." The interesting thing in this poll is not so much that most Americans and most Democrats have no confidence in Netanyahu (that's conventional wisdom), but that even a very substantial minority of 34% of Republicans don't. https://t.co/uVvksmqgq1
— Michael (@novussubsole) April 25, 2024
The report continues, "Conservative Republicans (62%) are twice as likely as moderate and liberal Republicans (31%) to say they have at least some confidence in Netanyahu. Conservative and moderate Democrats (17%) also express more confidence than liberals (7%)."
There is also a considerable difference in opinion among age groups, with younger voters far more likely to distrust Netanyahu than those older than them.
Just 33 percent of Republicans under 50 have "some confidence" in Netanyahu, while 69 percent of those over 50 said the same. "Conservative and moderate Democrats (17%) also express more confidence than liberals (7%)," the report states.
Pew surveyed 3,600 U.S. adults from April 1-7, 2024.
