EXCLUSIVE: Dem Voters Overwhelmingly Say US Should Cut Aid to Israel Until It Stops Attacking Civilians

From Palestine to economics, a new poll from Data for Progress and Zeteo shows likely Democratic primary voters prefer a more progressive approach.

An overwhelming share of likely Democratic primary voters – 71% – say the US should restrict military aid to Israel until it stops attacking civilians in Gaza, supports Palestinian rights, and commits to a long-term peace process, according to a recent Data for Progress–Zeteo poll of likely Democratic primary voters.

As the Democratic Party faces an identity crisis following its 2024 loss, the new data point is yet another indicator that Democratic voters want to depart from the party establishment consensus in favor of something more progressive.

And it’s not just Israel-Palestine. The voters surveyed were asked to choose between a more progressive and a more moderate approach to six issues: the Israel-Palestine conflict, transgender sports policy, economic policy, healthcare, climate policy, and immigration. On nearly every issue, the poll found likely Democratic primary voters clearly favored a more progressive approach.

The dynamic was strongest in the case of Israel-Palestine. While 71% of respondents preferred the US condition military aid to Israel, just 20% chose the more moderate option: continuing to support Israel and “its right to defend itself,” while “encouraging efforts to reduce civilian harm and promote long-term peace” – the Biden administration’s posture.

Voters under the age of 45 felt even stronger – with 80% favoring restricting aid and just 13% supporting the status quo posture.

Such numbers were striking, given how the Kamala Harris campaign refused to diverge from the Biden administration on several issues, infamously on Israel and Palestine. That stubborn refusal contributed to Harris’ eventual loss – and in the months since Donald Trump took power, the world has witnessed an even more severe ramp-up of violence against Palestinians and repression of their supporters in the US. The new polling underscores that Democratic voters have coalesced on an opinion starkly different from what the Biden-Harris administration maintained during the final year of its presidency.

Other Key Issues

The Democratic primary voters surveyed were more split on immigration – with 49% favoring a progressive approach that includes reducing deportations, expanding asylum access, and providing a pathway to citizenship for all undocumented immigrants, while 48% favored the Democratic status quo position of increasing border security while creating a legal pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants with long-term ties to the US.

Voters were less split when it came to healthcare: 60% of respondents favored a Medicare for All system that would replace most private insurance with a government-funded plan. Conversely, 37% preferred the more moderate approach: improving and expanding the Affordable Care Act, while maintaining private insurance as the main option for most Americans. Those under 45 felt strongly: 70% supported Medicare for All, and 28% favored the latter.

Climate has taken a backseat in the US discourse, but the effects have not: 2023 was the hottest recorded year on Earth – and then that record was broken again last year. Some 54% of likely Democratic voters preferred a Green New Deal, while 41% favored the Biden administration’s approach: investing in clean energy and reducing fossil fuel use over time through “market-driven solutions.”

While some pundits and lawmakers fixate on “Kamala is for they/them” as the reason Democrats lost in 2024 (and not other possibilities, like unconditionally supporting a genocide, appearing as Diet Republicans, or refusing to distinguish themselves from a previously losing ticket) respondents were less cautious on the matter of transgender people. Some 63% preferred an approach that opposed federal transgender sports bans and supported allowing local school districts and athletic organizations to set participation policies. About 27% supported a federal ban to “reduce political conflict over this issue.”

And on economic policy, 62% favored enforcing strong public standards and limiting corporate influence on development and building, while 31% supported focusing on building more housing and infrastructure, even if that meant less government oversight and regulation and fewer restrictions on developers.

Consensus Shifting

In the wake of the Democrats’ loss to Trump, the party is at a crossroads, with widespread discontent. While hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets in protest or to attend action-demanding rallies led by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, some more centrist figures suggest the opposition do less opposing, and more letting Trump hurt himself – “roll over and play dead,” as one proponent writes.

But it’s not just crowd sizes, as some may suggest. These poll numbers indicate the party base’s frame of what’s possible – or at least what’s needed – is shifting.

Indeed, as seen with immigration, public opinion is movable and adaptable. And as seen with the crisis of these times — alarming crackdowns against those protesting a genocide, the elimination of due process, irreparable environmental devastation, people’s lives one medical episode away from ruin — the needs are high. The expectations from voters are proportional.

Check out Part 1 of Data for Progress and Zeteo’s polling to see who Democratic primary voters are right now most interested in running in 2028:

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