.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
Should countries recognize Palestine? New poll finds consensus among Americans
In the latest Reuters/Ipsos survey, 58% of respondents said that all countries in the United Nations should recognize the state of Palestine. Meanwhile, 33% said they disagreed and 9% did not provide an answer.
The poll — which sampled 4,446 U.S. adults — was conducted after the leaders of France, Canada and the U.K. announced their intention to officially acknowledge Palestinian statehood.
The vast majority of U.N. member states, about 147 out of 193, already recognize Palestine as a sovereign nation, leaving the U.S. and many of its western allies as global outliers.
The survey appears to mark a shift in U.S. public opinion, with an increasing number of Americans favoring recognition of Palestinian statehood. By comparison, in a May 2023 YouGov poll, just 37% of respondents said the U.S. government should formally acknowledge the state of Palestine. A plurality of respondents were uncertain.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll — which has a margin of error of about 2 percentage points — also found that most Americans, 59%, believe Israel's military actions in Gaza have been excessive. About one-third of respondents said they disagreed.
Additionally, 65% said that the U.S. should 'take action in Gaza to help people facing starvation.' Twenty-eight percent said they disagreed, including 41% of Republicans.
The survey comes nearly two years into Israel's war in Gaza, which has left over 62,000 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza health officials.
Many of the territory's inhabitants now face starvation amid Israeli restrictions on aid, and hundreds have been killed while trying to get food, according to U.N. officials, who said the instances could 'constitute crimes against humanity.'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied anyone is starving in the enclave, while President Donald Trump has said there is 'real starvation' in the ravaged area.
The conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas militants invaded southern Israel, killing some 1,200 civilians and taking more than 200 hostages.
Hamas on Aug. 18 said it accepted a ceasefire proposal brought by Arab negotiators, according to the Associated Press. Israeli officials — preparing for an assault on Gaza City — have not yet weighed in.
The same day, Trump seemed to downplay the proposal, writing on Truth Social, 'We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!! The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US consumer watchdog kicks off redo of 'open banking' rules on customer data
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday kicked off a do-over of its "open banking" regulations governing consumer control over the sharing of personal data between banks and the burgeoning financial technology sector as the two industries feud over proper controls and access. The decision marked an about-face amid public pressure from fintech firms and crypto entrepreneurs whose fortunes have soared since President Donald Trump returned to the White House this year. The watchdog asked numerous questions on how best to implement the consumer data rules -- now 15 years in the making and prescribed as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation -- requiring that banks give consumers access to their own financial data, including account information, transactions, usage and fees "upon request." The regulations were previously completed by the Biden administration, earning a legal challenge from the banking industry who opposed that version, citing risks to consumer data security. Former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in October that the regulations would let consumers switch banks with the same ease as switching telephone companies, allowing comparison shopping for mortgages and accounts - with data shared free of charge. The Trump administration initially told a court it supported banking industry calls to strike down the Biden regulations but in late July reversed course, saying that due to unnamed "recent events in the marketplace," it would replace the regulations with a version more to the administration's liking. The backpedaling came after politically connected crypto entrepreneurs, including Tyler Winkelvoss and Donald Trump Jr., took to social media to denounce JPMorgan Chase over a Bloomberg report that the bank had informed fintech firms they would in fact have to pay potentially hefty fees for access to depositors' data, even though the pending Biden-era regulations still prevented this. In an earnings call in mid-July, JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon said securely sharing customer data was costly.
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
California to take on Newsom-backed redistricting plan today, after Texas passes maps
California Democrats are poised to pass a contentious redistricting effort on Thursday in the latest escalation to a national back and forth that could prove critical in which party is able to win the U.S. House in next year's midterm elections. The new map would shift five of California's Republican U.S. House seats to be more favorable to Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections. The proposal will be brought to the floor for a vote following days of hearings, and if it passes, Californians would then vote on a constitutional amendment for the new boundaries during a special election on Nov. 4. That election is likely to be expensive and unpredictable given how quickly the effort has come together and how little time there is between the legislature's actions and voters starting to have their say. California's legislative votes are expected to happen just one day after Texas state representatives passed a GOP-backed congressional map on Wednesday at the request of President Trump, following a weekslong standoff in which Democratic lawmakers left Texas to delay a vote. These new Texas maps could help secure five additional GOP-leaning seats during the upcoming midterm elections. Republicans in the state have been adamant the Texas changes are fair, while Texas Democrats have already signaled the maps will be challenged in court. Shortly after the Texas House passed the maps, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom posted "It's on" on social media. When Texas first launched its redistricting effort, Newsom had vowed to redraw the Golden State's congressional districts to counter the Lone Star State's plan and neutralize any potential GOP gains. Newsom — who is widely seen as a possible 2028 presidential contender — sarcastically congratulated Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott on X, saying, "you will now go down in history as one of Donald Trump's most loyal lapdogs. Shredding our nation's founding principles. What a legacy." President Trump late Wednesday congratulated Texas Republicans for passing the new maps, writing on social media that "Everything Passed, on our way to FIVE more Congressional seats and saving your Rights, your Freedoms, and your Country, itself." He also encouraged GOP-led Indiana and Florida to take on redistricting. The relatively rare mid-decade redistricting gambit comes as both parties prepare to face off in 2026 and has major implications nationwide. Republicans have a narrow majority at the moment, and Democrats winning back three seats in the 2026 midterms could be enough to flip control of the chamber if the lines used in the 2024 election were still in place. Redistricting in red states could change that dynamic significantly however, and with it the impact of the final two years on Mr. Trump's second term in office. Texas and California are the two biggest redistricting battlegrounds, but Mr. Trump has pushed similar efforts in GOP-led Indiana and Florida, and New York Democrats have floated redrawing their House map. The Republican-led state of Missouri could also try and redraw a Democratic district in the coming weeks, and new maps are also expected in Ohio where a redraw brought about by state law could impact some of the red state's Democratic members of Congress. Earlier this week, former President Barack Obama acknowledged that he was not a fan of partisan gerrymandering but he backed Newsom's redistricting plan anyway at a fundraiser in Martha's Vineyard and on social media, calling it a "smart, measured approach." Less than 24 hours before California's scheduled vote, Newsom joined a press call with Democratic party leaders, urging support for his state's redistricting effort. "This is about taking back our country," Newsom told reporters. "This is about the Democratic Party now punching back forcefully and very intentionally. A draft congressional map unveiled by California Democrats late last week would heavily impact five of the state's nine Republican U.S. House members. It would redraw Reps. Doug LaMalfa and Kevin Kiley's Northern California districts, tweak Rep. David Valadao's district in the Central Valley and rearrange parts of densely populated Southern California, impacting Reps. Ken Calvert and Darrell Issa. And some more competitive Democrat-held districts could be tilted further from the GOP. There's no guarantee that Democrats will win in all five newly recast districts. Democrats hold large majorities in both chambers of California's state legislature. But some legal hurdles still lie ahead, and Republicans in the state have pushed back against the redistricting plans. Unlike Texas, California has an independent redistricting commission that was created by voters earlier this century. To overhaul the current congressional map, a constitutional amendment would need to be passed by a two-thirds vote in California's Assembly and Senate and be approved by voters in the fast-moving fall election. On Wednesday, the California Supreme Court denied a GOP attempt to stop the mid-cycle redistricting. California Republicans had legally challenged Democrats' efforts, claiming the state's constitution gives Californians the right to review new legislation for 30 days. But Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero said they "failed to meet their burden of establishing a basis for relief at this time." The GOP legislators who filed the legal challenge told CBS News the ruling is "not the end of this fight," vowing to keep fighting the redistricting plan in the courts. In a phone interview with CBS News on Wednesday, California Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, a Republican, condemned Newsom's redistricting efforts. "This whole process is illegal from the beginning and violates the current California Constitution," Jones said. "The voters spoke with a loud voice in 2008 and 2010 that they were taking this process out of the politicians' hands and putting the responsibility into an independent commission." Democrats faced a flurry of questions from Republican lawmakers during hearings this week on the alleged lack of transparency in the drafting of these maps and the financial implications of the Nov. 4 special election. "If we're talking about the cost of a special election versus the cost of our democracy or the cost that Californians are already paying to subsidize this corrupt administration, those costs seem well worth paying at this moment," said Democratic state Assemblyman Isaac G. Bryan. Democratic lawmakers and Newsom have repeatedly emphasized that these redistricting efforts would not get rid of the independent commission and that the new maps he's hoping to put in place will be the lines used through the 2030 election. The commission would go back to drawing the state's congressional maps after the 2030 census, according to Newsom, who says this is only being done as a response to Mr. Trump and Texas' redistricting. That notion was rejected by Jones, who said: "Growing up, I was taught two wrongs don't make a right, so no, it is not justified." Trump sounds off on potential security guarantees for Ukraine Man advocates for school zone and driver safety after personal tragedy What to know about the Menendez brothers' parole hearings
UPI
24 minutes ago
- UPI
California Democrats to pass redistricting map to offset Texas
California Governor Gavin Newsom and Democrats in the state's legislature have begin the process of redistricting the state's election maps to give the state more Democratic seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. File Photo by Jonathan Alcorn/UPI | License Photo Aug. 21 (UPI) -- California is preparing to counter with a redistricting plan to add five likely Democratic seats to the U.S. House of Representatives after Texas approved its own redistricting map favoring Republicans. The California state Assembly and Senate will consider three bills that will allow for a special election to pass a constitutional amendment to replace the state's existing congressional maps through 2030. Then Democrats must convince Californians to vote to overturn the congressional maps drafted by the independent redistricting commission voters that were first empowered to draw the lines in 2010. Texas approved its redistricting map Thursday night, despite weeks of protest. The Texas Senate is expected to approve the measure Friday and pass the bill along to Gov. Greg Abbott, R, who will certainly sign. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, D, has vowed to create more seats for Democrats in Congress by creating a new map in its own state, the most populous in the nation. "It's on, Texas," Newsom tweeted Wednesday night. The orders for the special election must be transmitted to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, a Democrat, by Friday to get the measure on the November ballot. California Democrats have said their redistricting push is a reaction to the Texas plan and President Donald Trump's effort to create a more favorable 2026 midterm election map. The California legislation includes a trigger clause that says the state will only redistrict if other states like Texas seek to implement their own mid-decade redistricting. The package of bills was advanced by the Assembly and Senate's appropriations committees on Wednesday. The state Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a challenge from state Republicans who filed a lawsuit earlier this week requesting an emergency injunction to stop the redistricting effort on the grounds that the legislature didn't give voters enough notice. California has an independent redistricting committee process that is popular with voters, and Newsom and his allies insist that they still support that. But they argue that their partisan response to Texas is necessary to check the power of Trump. During a call with reporters organized by the Democratic National Committee on Wednesday, Newsom said the fight is "the rule of Don versus the rule of law." "This is a different person. This is a different presidency," Newsom said of Trump's second term. "It requires a different approach than we've seen in the past. And so I think this is the ultimate wake-up call -- trying to rig this election before one vote is even cast before 2026."
