New Survey: Most Americans Like Israel, Never Heard of BDS

Two-thirds of Americans expressed a favorable view of the Israeli people, including one-in-five who say they feel “very favorably” toward the Israelis.

By TPS

The majority of Americans have never heard of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and only a tiny 2% support it, a new Pew survey shows.

Relatively few Americans know of or heard about BDS, with 84% saying they have heard “not much” or “nothing at all” about it. Just 5% of U.S. adults have heard at least “some” about BDS and expressed support for it, including 2% who strongly support it.

Conversely, two-thirds of Americans expressed a favorable view of the Israeli people, including one-in-five who say they feel “very favorably” toward the Israelis.

Republicans and those who lean to the GOP are much more likely to express a favorable view of the Israeli people with a large 78%, compared with the 37% support for Palestinians.

Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning respondents, on the other hand, similar percentages express favorable views toward both groups, 60% and 64%, respectively.

When asked about their views of the Israeli government, about half of the U.S. public, 48%, expressed a very or somewhat positive view, compared with 28% who view the Palestinian government favorably.

A majority of 33 U.S. states have laws prohibiting doing state business with any company that boycotts Israel.

The BDS movement promotes financial, academic and cultural boycotts of Israel. Critics say its activities are a modern form of antisemitism and that its true objective is to destroy the State of Israel.