Majority of American public blames Hamas for current conflict
Poll shows US public opinion is divided by political affiliations; majority of Americans still see Hamas as more responsible for current crisis in Gaza.
By JPOST.COM STAFFDes terroristes du Hamas(photo credit: REUTERS)
According to a recent poll by PewResearch, 40% of Americans blame Hamas for the current crisis in Gaza, while only 19% believe that Israel is responsible.The poll was conducted among 1,005 adults in July of 2014.The study also found that the public's opinion was largely divided by political affiliation. 60% of those who considered themselves Republican believed that Hamas held the blame for the current violence. Among Democrats, opinion was more divided with 29% holding Hamas more responsible and 26% saying that Israel was to blame. 18% of Democrats said both sides were to blame.According to the survey a majority of Americans agreed with Israel's response in the conflict, but by a lesser margin of 35% saying that Israel's response was "about right." 25% felt Israel has "gone too far" and 15$ believed Israel had "not gone far enough."Further analyzing demographics, the poll found that elderly Americans held a more favorable view of Israel, as did Caucasians. College students, African Americans and Latinos were more divided without a clear majority opinion.
