![Apartheid Israel painted on a wall](https://images.prismic.io/vfi-news/496b5be5-d7a4-4a18-a302-c40ad4e4e6d8_6.jpg?auto=compress,format&rect=0,0,1200,666&w=1200&h=666)
Nearly Half of Democrats See Israel as Apartheid, Support BDS, New Poll Shows
Some 44% of Democrats believed that Israel is an apartheid state as compared to 20% of Republicans, according to a new survey published by the University of Maryland. The university released its Critical Issues Poll on Tuesday, April 25.
Some 13% of the respondents believed Israel was a flawed democracy. In this case, 16% of Democrats believed Israel was a flawed democracy as compared to 9% of Republicans. Some 7% described Israel as “a state with restricted minority rights.” 8% of Democrats believed this was true as compared to 4% of Republicans.
A similar percentage of Democrats (44%) believe Israel is an apartheid state as compared to Republicans (41%) who believe it is a “vibrant democracy”. A total of 94% of Democrat respondents believed that Israel is, at best, a flawed democracy. This compares to 67% of Republicans who believed that Israel is, at worst, a flawed democracy.
This partisan chasm is also apparent in the responses to, “What role do you want the United States to play in mediating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?” where 47% of Republicans felt the US should lean towards Israel as compared to 12% of Democrats. Some 25% of independents felt this to be the case. Some 2% of Republicans felt the US should lean towards Palestine, 6% of independents, and 14% of Democrats. Some 49% of Republicans felt the US should not favor either side, compared to 68% of independents and 72% of Democrats.
When asked about the anti-Israel Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement, a plurality expressed that they had no opinion. 65% of all respondents were either unfamiliar with the subject or had no opinion. When these respondents were excluded, 41% of Democrats supported BDS while only 7% of Republicans supported the boycott. Some 65% of Republicans opposed BDS while only 20% of Democrats opposed BDS. (I365N / VFI News)