Most Americans oppose sending U.S. troops to defend Israel, poll finds

The findings come as various threats loom over Israel, including a potential Iranian retaliation for the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader, in Tehran, as well as the skirmishes on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon that have threatened to boil over into war.

The poll was conducted online from June 21 through July 1, before the Haniyeh assassination and the subsequent Iranian threat, among a national sample of 1,056 American adults with an error margin of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points. The sample was drawn through Ipsos’s KnowledgePanel, an ongoing survey panel recruited through random sampling of U.S. households.

The Chicago Council poll showed a downward shift in Americans’ support for sending U.S. troops to Israel’s defense since the war in Gaza — although it was not clear whether the decline was specifically tied to the conflict, which began after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 Israelis and taking about 250 of them hostage.

The share of Americans who support sending U.S. troops to defend Israel if its neighbors attack it (41 percent) is the lowest since the Chicago Council began asking the question in 2010. That year, 47 percent of Americans said they supported sending U.S. troops; in 2012, 49 percent supported it, and in 2014, 45 percent supported the idea. In 2015, 2018 and 2021, 53 percent of Americans supported such a plan.

The United States has repositioned military assets in the Middle East and Europe in recent days as it braces to help Israel defend itself against a potential Iranian response. When Iran sent a barrage of missiles toward Israel in April in another back-and-forth of attacks, it was a U.S.-led coalition that helped Israel fend off the bombardment. (The Iranian attack was in response to an Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Damascus, Syria.)

The Chicago Council poll found a similar 56 percent of Americans opposed the use of U.S. troops if Iran attacked Israel, while 42 percent supported using troops in this situation.

Although Israel and the United States often describe themselves as each other’s closest ally and dearest friend, the two countries do not have a formal pact that obligates the United States to come to Israel’s defense, or vice versa.

The use of U.S. troops on the ground to defend Israel against an adversary has not recently been floated substantively, but it’s nonetheless a sensitive matter for the American public. When the United States built a pier off the coast of the Gaza Strip in a largely failed attempt to get more aid into the besieged enclave, the Biden administration made clear that “no U.S. boots will be on the ground in Gaza as part of the operation.”

The findings track with other polls that have shown an American public appearing to sour on Israel amid the war in Gaza, which has killed 39,653 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children.

A Gallup poll released in March found that most Americans disapproved of Israel’s military action, with 55 percent disapproving of it and 36 percent approving of it. A Gallup poll late last year found higher support — 50 percent — among Americans for the Israeli military’s actions in Gaza.

Israel and Hamas, via intermediaries including the United States and Qatar, have reportedly gotten close in recent weeks to reaching a deal that would wind down the war and free the hostages, dead and alive, still being held in Gaza. But an agreement has not been reached, with the killing of Haniyeh likely to have throw negotiations off course.

Emily Guskin contributed to this report.