Trump’s Strongest Issue Approval Is Handling of Israel-Palestine

In the RealClearPolitics Average for Trump’s job approval, his rating has steadily fallen since inauguration and now stands at -12.7 net approval. He also has negative net approval on all issues in the RCP Averages except one: his handling of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Israel-Palestine Conflict

In the latest poll from Harvard-Harris, Trump had a +6 net support rating on his handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict. A significant spike in approval followed the peace deal brokered by the Trump administration, which had 71% in favor, including 57% of Democrats. In polls conducted before Israel signed the peace deal on Oct. 10, Trump’s approval rating on the conflict was significantly negative, with most polls placing him between -10 and -25 net approval.

Americans are not confident the deal will last, though, as a majority believes both sides are breaking the terms of the agreement. According to the poll, 51% believe that Israel is not respecting the deal, and 66% believe that Hamas is not respecting the deal. This led to 59% saying they do not believe Trump will be able to keep the peace between Israel and Hamas.

To end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict more permanently, a large majority, 68%, said there should be a two-state solution. Another 19%, mostly Republicans, said they believe Arab states should absorb the Palestinians. The remaining 12% said the answer to the conflict is for “Israel to be ended and be given to Hamas and the Palestinians.”

Despite a two-state solution being popular in America, it is extremely unpopular in Israel. According to a poll from the Israel Democracy Institute with 1,000 respondents, 72% of Jewish Israelis said they do not think Palestinians have a right to their own state. Among Arab Israelis, 58% said the Palestinian people do have a right to their own state.

One of the biggest divides on the Israel-Hamas conflict is the age divide. Among respondents 65 and older, 59% support Trump’s handling of the conflict so far, compared with 56% of 18- to 24-year-olds who oppose it. On the question of the long-term answer to the conflict, 26% of 18- to 24-year-olds supported the idea of ending Israel and giving it to Hamas and Palestine, the highest of any age group. Only 3% of respondents 65 and older said the same.

Russia-Ukraine War

Trump’s approval rating for how he has handled the Russia-Ukraine war is much lower, at -22.2 net approval in the RCP Average, similar to his approval on the Israel-Hamas conflict before the peace plan was put in place. A large part of the skepticism stems from the fact that only 37% believe Trump will be able to solve the Ukraine war.

Part of the distaste with the Trump administration’s handling of the war comes from a lack of consensus on what should be done by the United States regarding the war. According to the Harvard-Harris poll, 65% supported continuing to provide weaponry to Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Russia if Putin refuses to negotiate and continues the war. However, the other 35%, including 42% of independents and 27% of Republicans, said the U.S. should not pursue those actions, out of concern that it would antagonize Russia.