Republicans, Democrats sharply divided over Trump’s Jerusalem decision

A new poll has revealed a sharp partisan divide between Republicans and Democrats over President Donald Trump’s decision to formally recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

According to The Economist/YouGov poll, which surveyed 1,500 US adults over 10-12 December, the same amount of Americans – 38 per cent – both approve and disapprove of Trump’s move.

Amongst Republicans, however, 76 per cent approve of the policy shift, a figure that rises to nearly nine in ten who describe religion as very important in their lives. Just 11 per cent disapprove.

Amongst Democrats, meanwhile, only 12 per cent expressed approval for the Jerusalem move, compared to 65 per cent who disapproved.

The results in the full poll breakdown reveal partisan divisions over a number of questions pertaining to Israel, the Palestinians, and US policy in the region.

While a strong majority of Republicans think the US gives the right amount (39 per cent) or too little support to Israel (31 per cent), with Democrats, those figures fall to 20 per cent and 12 per cent respectively, with 31 per cent of Democrats saying the US gives too much support to Israel.

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Unsurprisingly, a majority of Americans see Israel as an ally of the US (42 per cent) or friendly (25 per cent). But while Israel is seen as an ally by 65 per cent of Republicans, that falls to 31 per cent amongst Democrats.

The same question also showed splits along age and racial lines. Some 62 per cent of the over-65s see Israel as an ally, but only 27 per cent of those aged 18-29, while 46 per cent of white respondents identified Israel as an ally of the US, compared to only 26 per cent of black respondents.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, is viewed favourably by just 16 per cent of Democrats, compared to 63 per cent of Republicans.

Overall, when asked who their sympathies lie more with, 33 per cent of American adults answered Israel, perhaps a surprisingly low number. Twenty-nine per cent said their sympathies lie equally with Israelis and Palestinians, and eight per cent said they sympathised more with the Palestinians.

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Strikingly, 63 per cent of Republicans sympathise more with the Israelis compared to just 19 per cent of Democrats. Some 38 per cent of Democrats sympathise with both Israelis and Palestinians equally, and 14 per cent of Democrats sympathise more with the Palestinians.

When the findings are broken down by who respondents voted for in the 2016 presidential election, 72 per cent of Trump voters sympathise more with Israelis compared to 15 per cent of those who voted for Hilary Clinton. Forty-eight per cent of Clinton voters sympathise with both groups equally, and 16 per cent sympathise more with the Palestinians (compared to two per cent of Trump voters).

Sympathy for Israel dropped from 54 per cent amongst the over-65s to 23 per cent of those in the 18-29 bracket. Only six per cent of the over-65s sympathise more with the Palestinians, but this rises to 11 per cent of 18-29-year-olds.