Americans’ opinions regarding Israel have dramatically soured in recent years, fueled by a surge in negative views among Democrats and independents, according to a new national poll.

The results of the survey, by NBC News, come amid sharp political debates among Democrats over support for Israel two and a half years after the start of the war between Israelis and Hamas in Gaza.

Just 32% of Americans view Israel positively, with 39% seeing the Jewish state in a negative light, according to the poll, which was conducted Feb. 27-March 2. That’s a sea change from three years ago, when Americans held a positive view of Israel by a 47%-34% margin.

Much of that decline in positive views is due to Democrats and independents, according to the survey.

HEAD HERE FOR LATEST POLLS FROM FOX NEWS 

Anti-Israel activists protest outside the United Nations headquarters in New York, on April 7, 2025. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Democrats were divided in 2023, with 34% viewing Israel positively and 35% negatively. Now, the poll indicates just 13% of Democrats hold a positive view of Israel, with 57% seeing it in a negative light.

And independents went from 40%-22% positive-negative to 21%-48%.

But according to the NBC News poll, Republican views of Israel have only declined slightly, from 63%-12% positive-negative in 2023 to 54%-18% now.

JOHN FETTERMAN SLAMS ANTI-ISRAEL ‘ROT’ IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY, REJECTS AOC CLAIMS OF GAZA ‘GENOCIDE’

The survey, which was conducted as the U.S. and Israel began their strikes on Iran, also indicates Americans are now split on whether they are more sympathetic to Israel or the Palestinians.

Thousands of anti-Israel protesters fill Freedom Plaza and the surrounding streets to rally and march calling for an end to the Israel-Hamas war, in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023. (Rod Lamkey/CNP for Fox News Digital)

Americans, who by a 45%-13% margin were more sympathetic to Israel in 2013, are now divided, with 40% more sympathetic to Israel and 39% more sympathetic to the Palestinians.

There’s been a massive switch among Democrats, from more sympathetic to Israel 34%-18% margin in 2013 to more sympathetic to Palestinians by a 67%-17% margin now.

SHARP PARTISAN DIVIDE EMERGES OVER IRAN STRIKE, TRUMP’S STRATEGY: POLLS

Independents went from more sympathetic to Israel by a 37%-10% margin 13 years ago to more sympathetic to Palestinians by a 37%-27% margin now.

But Republicans, according to the poll, stayed much more sympathetic to Israel, from a 67%-8% margin in 2013 to a 69%-13% margin now.

The poll also spotlights a generational divide, with a greater deterioration of positive views and sympathies for Israel among younger Americans.

Israeli soldiers operate inside the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing ground operation of the Israeli army against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in this handout picture obtained by Reuters on Nov. 7, 2023.  (Israeli Defense Forces/Handout via Reuters)

Roughly 1,200 people were killed during the October 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel, with 251 captured.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Israel’s ensuing military campaign in Gaza over the past two and a half years has resulted in more than 72,000 people being killed, according to health officials in the Palestinian territory.

While most Republicans remain supportive of Israel, the war in Gaza has sparked sharp debates among Democrats which are currently playing out in the party’s 2026 primaries.

A defiant Iranian regime is reeling from U.S. and Israeli military strikes, but one American who fled Iran as a child says some citizens are thanking the U.S. as a liberator.

Iranian-American Armin Assadi said Iranians are dancing near where American bombs have landed, adding that for the first time in 47 years there is hope Iran may be free.

“You can literally see people singing and dancing in the streets, mere blocks away from where the first missile struck. That’s craziness to have [to] find hope in being bombed,” Assadi said on “Fox & Friends Weekend.”

“That’s how desperate these people are, and they’re thanking America for it,” he added.

ISRAELI MINISTER OUTLINES IRAN MISSION GOALS, SAYS IRANIAN PEOPLE NOW HAVE CHANCE TO ‘REGAIN THEIR FREEDOM’

Protesters supporting regime change in Iran hold a rally in Washington, D.C., on March 7, days after U.S. and Israeli strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and sparked retaliatory missile and drone attacks by Iran. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump said the U.S. has destroyed a majority of Iran’s missile and drone manufacturing sites as a result of Operation Epic Fury — a military campaign that has resulted in the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Assadi said that while few videos have emerged from Iran since the attacks, what he has seen suggests some people support the U.S. campaign. He said some Iranians who have never visited the United States are even doing the “Trump dance.”

Assadi added that the “underground church” is praying for America. Despite the support, he voiced “mixed feelings” watching the conflict unfold.

People march in an anti-Iranian regime rally in Los Angeles, California, on January 18. Protests in Iran have subsided after a government crackdown killed thousands, monitors said, following demonstrations that challenged the country’s theocratic system.  (Jonathan Alcorn/AFP via Getty Images)

KHAMENEI IS DEAD — AND IRANIANS DARE TO HOPE FOR FREEDOM AGAIN AFTER DECADES OF TYRANNY

“People are going to die, but at the same time you can’t help feel [a] sense of gratitude and hope that Iran might be free again for the first time in 47 years,” Assadi said.

The Pentagon announced a formal investigation into a Feb. 28 strike after Iranian officials claimed more than 100 children were killed at a school next to a military compound.

“You can create all these weird narratives that Iran is against this war, but the regime might be. The people are not,” Assadi said.

NETANYAHU INSISTS US AND ISRAEL’S STRIKES ON IRAN WON’T LEAD TO ‘ENDLESS WAR’

President Donald Trump confirmed the launch of U.S. strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. (Contributor/Getty Images)

“The people are celebrating it and are grateful to God that America stood up,” he added.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi claimed on Sunday, on “Face the Nation,” that President Donald Trump launched attacks against Iran “because it is fun,” accusing the United States of starting what he called an “illegal war” during an interview with CBS host Margaret Brennan.

The comments came as the war between the United States and Iran continues to escalate, with the Trump administration signaling the conflict could continue longer than initially anticipated. 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Last Updated:March 16, 2026, 23:33 IST

gautam gambhir reacts on ms dhoni post: Gautam Gambhir has reacted to MS Dhoni’s post, in which while congratulating the Indian team after winning the T20 World Cup 2026, the former Indian captain had written that ‘Coach sir, it feels good to laugh at you.’ Gambhir has now said on this that if Dhoni is in his role for a day and he is in his place, then he will write the same thing.

Gautam Gambhir spoke openly on Dhoni’s post.

Even a former Biden White House adviser is calling out Democrat-run cities run amok with crime after a chaotic “juvenile takeover” disrupted Washington, D.C.’s upscale Navy Yard neighborhood Saturday night, as hundreds of teens flooded the area, sparking fights, robberies and gunfire.

“Blue cities need to wake up,” Yemisi Egbewole wrote Sunday on X, responding to social media video showing the melee. “Tolerating this behavior is unfair to the residents who live here and unfair to the kids themselves.”

The disturbance comes just days after the district established a temporary juvenile curfew zone in the same Navy Yard area. While a citywide curfew for minors begins at 11 p.m., critics say teen “takeovers” continue to plague the city.

“The behavior displayed [Saturday] night in Navy Yard cannot be tolerated, and we are very thankful that no one was seriously injured,” interim Metropolitan Chief of Police Jeffery W. Carroll, a Mayor Muriel Bowser appointee, told WUSA 9 on Sunday.

TRUMP DECLARES DC A ‘CRIME FREE ZONE’ AMID HIS FEDERAL CRACKDOWN

“I commend our members and our partners for their professionalism and for safely recovering two firearms from individuals within this group. We need parents and guardians to be proactive and know where their children are and who they are with at all times.”

In Saturday’s latest outbreak, police say the crowd began forming around 6:30 p.m. ET in a park near First Street and New Jersey Avenue SE, swelling to roughly 200 teens by 8:30 p.m.

Video circulating on social media shows large groups of mostly black-clad teens running through the streets, screaming and fighting as officers tried to disperse the crowd.

Just before 9:15 p.m., police say a group of teens assaulted and robbed another teen of his shoes and jacket. Minutes later, additional fights broke out near First and M Streets SE, according to WUSA 9.

PIRRO CREDITS ‘ENHANCED FEDERAL PARTNERSHIP’ FOR DC’S FIRST HOMICIDE-FREE STRETCH IN DECADES

Police in Washington, D.C. made arrests and recovered guns after a large teen gathering in the Navy Yard neighborhood on Saturday, March 14, 2026. (Elissa De Souza)

Around 9:45 p.m., National Guard members witnessed a 15-year-old fire a gun into the air inside the park. The teen was quickly apprehended and charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm, endangerment with a firearm and carrying a pistol without a license.

Police say the chaos continued shortly after, when another group of teens jumped and robbed two more juveniles near New Jersey Avenue and M Street. The victims later went to a hospital with injuries.

Hundreds of individuals gathered in Washington, D.C., Navy Yard neighborhood, in an incident that saw violence and arrests.

At about 10:34 p.m., the Secret Service stopped a rideshare vehicle after spotting a suspect matching a police description. A 16-year-old was arrested after officers recovered a firearm he allegedly tried to discard.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

In total, two juveniles were arrested and two firearms recovered. Despite the violence, authorities say no serious injuries were reported.

Steak ‘n Shake has rolled out its new tater tots cooked in beef tallow, expanding the fast-food chain’s push toward traditional frying methods.

The announcement drew attention on social media after the Indianapolis-based company highlighted the ingredient Monday morning in an X post, with commenters praising the move, while others debated whether beef tallow is healthier than vegetable oils.

Steak ‘n Shake previously made headlines last year when it announced that its fries would be cooked in beef tallow instead of vegetable oil — part of what the company described as a return to the “authentic way” of frying potatoes.

TOP BUTCHERS REVEAL THE 3 FAST-FOOD CHEESEBURGERS THAT ACTUALLY USE REAL, QUALITY BEEF

“When tots were invented in the 1950s, they were cooked in beef tallow,” Steak ‘n Shake wrote in its X post. 

“Steak ‘n Shake is bringing them to you in the 21st century as the only chain offering 100% Beef Tallow Tots. You can get a taste of throwback tots.”

Steak ‘n Shake has debuted 100% beef tallow tater tots at its restaurants. (iStock)

Beef tallow — rendered beef fat — was commonly used in restaurant fryers decades ago before many chains switched to vegetable oils, according to industry experts. In recent years, some restaurants and food influencers have revived interest in the ingredient amid debates about seed oils and traditional cooking methods.

Most of the responses on X were positive, with commenters sharing their excitement.

“Tallow tots? Now that’s how you do crispy right,” wrote one commenter.

FOODS THAT AMERICANS WERE TOLD TO AVOID FOR DECADES ARE BACK UNDER TRUMP’S NEW NUTRITION RULES

“I’m going to quite literally find one of your restaurants tomorrow or ASAP. Tallow tots [are] speaking my love language,” wrote another.

“Oh my gosh. I’m there,” wrote someone else.

“Can’t wait to try these!” said yet another commenter.

Many social media commenters expressed their interest and excitement in trying Steak ‘n Shake’s new tater tots (not pictured). (iStock)

A few commenters seemed less than enthusiastic about the news.

“Honestly, if you’re going for the health edge, you should be using organic EVOO (look it up, intern, lol) or avocado oil,” wrote one commenter.

“Not everyone eats mammals. Great for the paleo carnivores. Not great for the pollo/pescatarians or vegetarians and vegans,” said another person.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES

“The fries [that were] fried in beef tallow had a weird [taste] and they weren’t crispy,” wrote someone else.

Several commenters remarked that they wanted to try the tots, but said there were no Steak ‘n Shake locations near them.

Several commenters said they’d like to try the new tater tots — but there were no Steak ‘n Shake restaurants in their area. (Steak ‘n Shake; iStock)

“Tater tots are still a deep-fried food, no matter the frying medium,” South Carolina-based dietitian-nutritionist Lauren Manaker told Fox News Digital. 

“The high heat used in deep-frying can produce acrylamide, a chemical linked to potential health risks when consumed in large amounts, regardless of the type of oil or fat used,” she said. “While beef tallow may offer some advantages as a frying fat due to its high smoke point and stability, it doesn’t make tater tots a ‘health food.’“

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Manaker said that tater tots, “whether fried in beef tallow or other oils, are best enjoyed in moderation as an occasional indulgence rather than a regular part of a healthy diet.”

California chef and restaurateur Andrew Gruel told Fox News Digital he was curious to know if Steak ‘n Shake’s tater tots are par fried ahead of time.

“The only way you can ensure [they] are fully seed oil-free is if the restaurant cuts them on-site,” as his restaurants do, Gruel said.

Steak ‘n Shake switched to beef tallow fries (not pictured) last year. (iStock)

Fox News Digital reached out to Steak ‘n Shake for further comment.

Just last month, Steak ‘n Shake announced that it was removing all microwaves from its kitchens by April 15.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER

“Quality restaurants don’t need microwaves,” Steak ‘n Shake posted on X at the time.

“It is part of our journey to improve food quality and use traditional methods of cooking only.”

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

This month, Steak ‘n Shake began giving its hourly employees a bitcoin bonus of 21 cents per hour — and is offering a $1,000 contribution to the Trump Accounts, “supporting our employees’ children.”