Study Finds 74% of U.S. Undergraduates Believe Israel Is Committing Genocide Against Palestinians

A new study released in August 2026 by Brandeis University's Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies found that 74 percent of U.S. undergraduate students believe Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.

The study, titled "American Undergraduates and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict," was conducted by polling firm Generation Lab between October 2025 and January 2026. The online survey included 3,989 undergraduate students from 303 colleges and universities across the United States.

According to the findings, 82 percent of respondents support Palestinians' right to self-determination and an independent state. By contrast, only 25 percent disagreed with the characterization of Israel's actions as genocide.

The survey found that students' attitudes varied significantly depending on whether they were asked about governments or people.

While 77 percent of respondents expressed favorable views of the Palestinian people, 52 percent held positive views of the Israeli people. The gap widened when evaluating political institutions: 41 percent viewed the Palestinian Authority (PA) positively, compared with only 15 percent who expressed favorable views of the Israeli government.

In addition, 46 percent of respondents described the Israeli government as "very unfavorable," while another 39 percent rated it "unfavorable."

Researchers cautioned that agreement with the genocide claim does not necessarily reflect identical political views. Among students who identified as strongly pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel, 98 percent agreed with the statement. However, 84 percent of respondents who said they were less informed about the conflict and considered it of low personal importance also shared that view.

The study found that political ideology was a stronger predictor of agreement than knowledge of the conflict. Among students identifying as very liberal, 94 percent agreed with the genocide characterization, compared with 45 percent of those identifying as conservative.

Researchers also reported that fewer than one-quarter of respondents expressed strongly negative views toward both the Israeli government and the Israeli people. Within that group, nearly half said they sympathized with Hamas.

At the same time, the study found that more than half of respondents lacked firmly developed views on the conflict. Most acknowledged having limited knowledge of the issue and said they considered it less personally important than domestic U.S. issues such as racism or immigration.

The findings come amid continuing Israeli military operations and arrests in the occupied West Bank, as well as an increase in attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians and their property. They also follow reports of alleged ceasefire violations in Gaza despite a truce that took effect on October 10, 2025.

According to Palestinian officials, more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 174,000 injured since the war in Gaza began in October 2023. Israel disputes allegations that it is committing genocide, while the issue is the subject of ongoing international legal proceedings and remains a matter of significant international debate.