Unraveling American Sympathies toward Israelis and Palestinians *

Abstract

 Conflicts manifest on two fronts---on the battlefield and in global public opinion. This study explores how ordinary individuals determine their sympathies toward people involved in conflicts abroad, focusing on American public opinion about the 2023-2024 Gaza conflict. Despite the pronounced divisions among the public, the origins of these sympathies remain elusive. Using a conjoint experiment fielded on the day after Israel began its ground invasion of Gaza, we identify subtle and multidimensional preferences underlying such polarized opinions. We find that Americans pay attention to substantive aspects of the conflict and evaluate their preferred side favorably. Consequently, while sympathy seems rooted in universal sentiment about suffering, its expression reflects individuals' selective information processing based on their perspectives and prior considerations. This finding suggests the challenge for Israeli and Palestinian sympathizers in understanding the perspectives of the other side.

Keywords: Israel, Palestine, war, sympathy, conjoint analysis

JEL Classification: D74, H56