This week in Washington, the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel group, has been holding its annual conference.

About four-in-ten Americans (41%) said U.S. support for Israel has been about right, according to a survey conducted Oct. 2012. A quarter (25%) said U.S. policy was not supportive enough while 22% said it was too supportive.

A majority of Democrats (55%) consider the level of U.S. support for Israel about right compared to 34% of Republicans.

Conservative Republicans stand out for their belief that the U.S. has not been supportive enough of Israel. Fully 57% of conservative Republicans said the U.S. has not been supportive enough of Israel.

Republicans also showed stronger sympathies for Israel than Democrats when it came to that country’s conflict with the Palestinians. Overall, Americans sympathize with Israel more than the Palestinians by a 50% to 10% margin. Seven-in-ten Republicans sympathize more with Israel compared to 41% of Democrats. Read more

Bruce Drake  is a former senior editor at Pew Research Center.