A majority of likely voters in each of six key swing states — Georgia, Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas — say they approve of measures to block the transfer of bombs to Israel, according to a new poll released Wednesday by the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) and conducted by the YouGov data analytics firm.
The poll also found that majorities or strong pluralities of 3,200 respondents in the six states favor “cutting $3.3 billion in taxpayer-funded weapons to Israel” and believe the war in Iran benefits Israel more than the United States.
As in other recent polls, the new survey, which was conducted from late September to mid-October, found that self-identified Democrats and Independents were significantly more likely to oppose more military transfers to Israel than self-identified Republicans in each state, although at least one-third of Republicans in all of the states except North Carolina (26%) said they supported blocking bombs to Israel.
The highest percentage of Republicans taking that position was found in Maine, where 45% said they opposed more such transfers. Incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, who is in a tight race against a Democrat who has criticized U.S. military aid and sales to Israel, voted against a resolution to ban the transfer of 1,000- and 2,000-pound bombs to Israel April 15, the last time the Senate voted on the issue. That vote marked the first time that a majority of Senate Democrats (36 of 46 members of the caucus) voted to block weapons transfers to Israel.
IMEU is a pro-Palestinian organization. YouGov, which fielded the survey, is considered a reliable pollster, and the poll’s questions were posed in neutral terms.
All six of the states polled by YouGov are considered critical to Democratic hopes of gaining control of the Senate in the November 3 midterm elections. Of the six Senate seats that are contested in them this year, only one is currently held by a Democrat, Jon Ossoff of Georgia.
The survey suggests that support for Israel and the Iran war among Republicans could prove a liability in next month’s midterm elections. As RS reported last week, some Republican Senate candidates in battleground states have tried to distance themselves from the Iran war, though few have voted in Congress to end or restrict it.
While the survey did not ask respondents how much weight they would accord U.S. military support for Israel and the war in Iran in deciding how they will vote in this year’s senatorial elections, it comes as a series of other polls have shown unprecedented popular disapproval of Israel’s conduct in its three-year-old war in Gaza and persistent strong opposition (55%) to the ongoing U.S. conflict in Iran. A pair of recent polls also indicated that voters are more concerned about the Iran war than immigration or crime, two issues that Republicans tend to dominate.
On whether they approve or disapprove of “Senate measures to block the transfer of bombs to Israel,” 65% of Maine respondents said they approved, while only 22% said they disapproved. In Georgia, the split was 55% approved, and 28% disapproved; in Iowa, the split was 56%-24%; North Carolina, 51%-30%; Ohio, 57%-31%; and Texas 54%-30%.
Asked about “cutting $3.3 billion in taxpayer-funded weapons to Israel” that the U.S. provides each year, 52% of Georgia respondents said they approved, while 34% said they disapproved. In Iowa, the split was 59%-26%; in Maine, 57%-30%; North Carolina, 48%-34%; Ohio, 54%-37%; and Texas, 52%-34%.
Asked which country the Iran war benefits the most, 50% of Georgia voters said Israel, while 28% said the U.S.; in Iowa, the split was 54% Israel, 21% the U.S.; Maine, 59%-19%; North Carolina, 52%-23%; Ohio, 49%-27%; and Texas, 51%-25%.