•Press Release Democracy Elections Middle East US Foreign Policy
Wide partisan divide as Biden voters support blocking arms shipments by strong 62%–14% majority; Trump voters oppose by 55%–30%
Washington, DC — Fifty-two percent of Americans agree that the US government should halt weapons shipments to Israel until Israel stops its attacks on Gaza, according to a new YouGov poll commissioned by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).
The poll shows a major partisan split as 62 percent of respondents who voted for President Biden in 2020 agree with the statement, “The US should stop weapons shipments to Israel until Israel discontinues its attacks on the people of Gaza,” while just 14 percent disagree. Twenty-four percent of self-identified Biden voters remain unsure.
By contrast, only 30 percent of Trump voters support halting US weapons shipments, while a majority (55 percent) oppose, and another 15 percent say they are unsure. Among those who did not vote in the 2020 presidential elections — a key group containing voters that both Democrats and Republicans would like to turn out this year — fully 60 percent agreed that the US should block weapons shipments, while just 17 percent disagreed and 23 percent remained unsure.
The survey goes further than other recent polls that show majorities of Americans supporting a “ceasefire” in Gaza, in that it specifically asks about stopping US arms shipments to Israel. Respondents favored this option by a margin of 52 to 27 percent, with 21 percent unsure.
“Ceasefires can mean different things to different people, but the support for halting weapons shipments is specific and unambiguous,” said Mark Weisbrot, economist and Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
Support for stopping US weapons shipments to Israel has gained traction in recent days, as the Gaza death toll has surpassed 30,000 people, about two-thirds of them women and children. There has been a “surge of acute malnutrition” since Israel cut off access to most food and water, and “People are already dying from hunger-related causes,” according to the United Nations World Food Programme.
Two weeks ago, Josep Borrell, the highest-level official of the European Union in charge of foreign policy, told the United States Government that they held the power to end civilian deaths in Palestine, saying, “If you believe too many people are being killed, maybe you should provide less arms.”
The survey, conducted February 27–March 1, 2024, included a sample of n=1,000 adults aged 18 and older, with a margin of error at +/-3.5 percent.
