September 18, 2025
About half of the public regard Israel’s military action in Gaza as excessive and about as many think negotiating a permanent ceasefire should be an important goal for U.S. foreign policy. About 4 in 10 think the current role the United States plays in solving the world’s problems is about right, similar to when last asked in the March 2025 AP-NORC poll. Approval of President Trump’s handling of the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians fell during the same time period.
Around half believe the military response from Israel in the Gaza Strip has gone too far, up from 42% from a Pearson/AP-NORC poll conducted in September of 2024. Most Democrats, and about half of independents say the Israelis have gone too far in Gaza, while nearly half of Republicans think the response has been about right. Few in either party feel the response hasn’t gone far enough.
There are also partisan differences when thinking about the United States’ foreign policy goals in the region. Roughly half of the public believe that negotiating a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and providing humanitarian relief to Palestinians in Gaza are important. Fewer think providing aid to Israel’s military to fight Hamas or negotiating the establishment of an independent Palestinian state are as important.
Democrats are much more likely than Republicans or independents to say that negotiating a permanent ceasefire, providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, or negotiating an independent Palestinian state should be important to the United States. Republicans are twice as likely as Democrats or independents to prioritize aid to Israel’s military, though only 35% feel it’s a very important goal.
Fifty-five percent of Republicans say the country’s current role in solving the world’s problems is about right, while 46% of Democrats say the country should take a more active role.
These partisan differences vary depending on which party controls the White House. In February 2024, when Joe Biden was President, 52% of Democrats said the country’s current role in solving the world’s problems was about right, while 53% of Republicans said they country should take a less active role.
Thirty-seven percent approve of Trump’s handling of the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians, down from 44% in March 2025. Slightly fewer Republicans approve of how he is dealing with the conflict compared March, but most Republicans still have a positive view.
The nationwide poll was conducted September 11-15, 2025 using the AmeriSpeak® Panel, the probability-based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago. Online and telephone interviews using landlines and cell phones were conducted with 1,183 adults. The overall margin of sampling error is +/- 3.8 percentage points.
- Suggested Citation: AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. “Half believe Israel’s military response in the Gaza Strip has gone too far.” (September 2025).
