A recent Pew Research Center survey conducted from January 22 to 28 of 5146 Americans revealed that a significant majority of Americans consider the Israel-Hamas war as important to US national interests as the Russia-Ukraine war and the conflict between China and Taiwan. Additionally, the Israel-Hamas war was also considered to be more important to respondents on a personal level.
The study also covered differences in opinion based on ideological beliefs and generational divides.
The majority (74%) of respondents regarded the war in Ukraine as important to national interests, with 43% describing it as very important. Similar shares view the Israel-Hamas war (75%) and tensions between China and Taiwan (75%) as significant to US interests.
In terms of personal importance, 59% of Americans considered the war in Ukraine important to them, while 65% felt the same about the Israel-Hamas war. Tensions between China and Taiwan were perceived as personally important by 57% of respondents.
Notably, roughly a third of Americans described the Israel-Hamas war as very important to them personally, compared to around a quarter for the other two conflicts surveyed.
The only major difference in partisan opinion was on the Ukraine war, with Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents more likely than Republicans and Republican-leaning independents to perceive it as important to US national interests (81% vs. 69%).
However, both parties were almost equally likely to consider the Israel-Hamas war (76% Democrats vs. 77% Republicans) and tensions between China and Taiwan (76% Democrats vs. 78% Republicans) as significant to US interests.
Ideological extremes and older participants were more concerned about the conflicts
As was to be expected, Individuals at the ideological extremes, such as conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats, showed greater concern for the Israel-Hamas war and tensions between China and Taiwan compared to their moderate counterparts within each party.
The survey also highlighted generational disparities in perceptions of these conflicts. Older Americans were more likely than younger generations to view all three conflicts as important to both US national interests and personally significant.
However, even among adults under 30, a majority (58%) considered the Israel-Hamas war personally important, while the same cannot be said for the war in Ukraine or tensions between China and Taiwan.
It is important to note that the survey did not specify exactly what defines US interests and therefore could have been interpreted by participants differently.
Given the Biden Administration's active role in trying to broker a hostage deal, the results from this survey could indicate that the Israel-Hamas war issue can have a massive effect on the next US election.