Amid some recent calls from protesters for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, data from a poll that was published on Friday revealed the majority of Republicans back the call for one.
On October 7, Hamas led the deadliest Palestinian militant attack on Israel in history. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest ever airstrikes on Gaza. Over 1,400 people in Israel have been killed as of Saturday, the Associated Press reported. While more than 4,000 Palestinians in Gaza have died, the AP said.
A Data for Progress poll, a progressive think tank and polling firm, surveyed 1,329 likely voters nationally using web panel respondents from October 18 to 19, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The poll revealed that 66 percent of voters "strongly agree" or "somewhat agree" that "the U.S. should call for a ceasefire and a de-escalation of violence in Gaza. The U.S. should leverage its close diplomatic relationship with Israel to prevent further violence and civilian deaths."
According to the poll, 56 percent of Republicans, 80 percent of Democrats, and 57 percent of independents back the call for a ceasefire.
While recent calls for a ceasefire from hundreds of protesters made its way inside of the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, the new poll signals more voters are aiming to urge the U.S. government to take action in calling for a ceasefire.
This comes after many Democrats including Representatives Cori Bush, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley on Friday repeated their calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Omar, who has faced backlash in recent days for initially accusing the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of being responsible for the blast at a Gaza hospital, called for humanity and freedom for Palestinians.
"How do you look at one atrocity and say, 'This is wrong,' but you watch as bodies pile up as neighborhoods are leveled? Israel has dropped more bombs in the last 10 days then we dropped in a whole year in Afghanistan. Where is your humanity? Where is your outrage? Where is your care for people?" Omar said at a press conference the three held Friday afternoon.
However, at a pro-Israel rally in Philadelphia on October 9, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat and who is Jewish, seemed to rebuff those who have called for an end to violence on both sides.
"We must call out what is right and what is so obviously wrong. The whataboutism used by some to justify Hamas's unprovoked actions is ignorant and wrong," Shapiro said. "There is no moral equivalency here. Israel has a right to defend itself."
Meanwhile, Republicans have slammed the notion of a mutual cease-fire, characterizing it as offensive to suggest Israel should not defend itself.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, is one of the many Republicans who called the protest on Capitol Hill an "insurrection" and criticized the protesters' call for a ceasefire in a 14 minute video of the protest shared to X, formerly Twitter, saying "these people are not for peace."
Newsweek has reached out to Greene and Omar via email for further comment.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Natalie Venegas is a Weekend Reporter at Newsweek based in New York. Her focus is reporting on education, social justice ... Read more
