Poll finds Republicans sympathize with Israel much more strongly than Democrats

Republicans sympathize with Israel in its conflict with Palestinians increasingly more strongly than Democrats do, according to a new Pew Research Center survey, opening up the widest partisan gap on American opinion on Israel since available polling in the late 1970s.

In a survey taken July 8-14, as Israel took military action in Gaza to protect its civilians against a barrage of rockets being launched by Palestinian terrorists, 51 percent of American respondents said they sympathized more with Israel than with the Palestinians, compared with 14 percent who sided more with the Palestinians.