Politics
L.A. Times poll: Younger, older Californians take starkly different views of Israel-Hamas war
Three months of war between Israel and Hamas have sharply split Californians, with stark divisions between the state’s older and younger voters, a new statewide poll finds.
Voters younger than 30 are far more likely to sympathize with Palestinians more than with Israelis, while those older than 65 side with Israel, according to the new poll by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times.
By 55%-18%, voters younger than 30 say Israel should agree to a cease-fire even if that would mean Hamas remains a force in Gaza.
Among voters older than 65, opinion is almost the reverse: By 52%-32%, those voters believe Israel should keep fighting until Hamas is no longer viable. Twenty-seven percent of the youngest voters and 16% of those over 65 had no opinion, the poll found.
The survey finds similarly sharp divisions along ideological lines, with the state’s most liberal voters overwhelmingly saying Israel is using too much military force in the war, while conservative voters say that the use of force has been about right or too little.
Jen Julian, a 26-year-old progressive voter who lives in Los Angeles, is among those who feel the war has been too costly. The death toll among Palestinians — which health authorities in Gaza say is more than 23,000 — was “too much of a human cost,” she said in an interview.
Israel launched its air strikes and a ground invasion of Gaza after Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing at least 1,200 people and taking more than 240 hostages.
“I understand Israel was attacked and felt it needed to respond to that, but this is way too much for way too long,” she said.
Joey Johnson, a 68-year-old conservative from Redding, took a different view.
“This is like Israel’s 9/11,” Johnson said. “If America was attacked the way Israel was by terrorists, we also would want to do everything we could to stop it from ever happening again. But of course it is tragic that innocent people are dying in Gaza.”
Two-state solution still dominant
While views are divided sharply about the current war, the poll shows greater agreement among California voters on the future of the conflict.
Separate, independent Israeli and Palestinian states dividing the land remains the most favored option for all but the most conservative voters.
That so-called two-state solution has been official U.S. policy for decades and at various points in the past, at least nominally accepted as a goal by the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority, which has limited governing power in the West Bank.
An independent Palestinian state is opposed, however, by right-wing Israelis, who have strong sway in the current government, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Meantime, Hamas and other radical Palestinian groups reject Israel’s continued existence.
Among California voters, the two-state solution is backed by a large majority of those who have an opinion — 47% prefer two states, while 25% have no opinion and the rest divide among other options.
Two states is what Rabbi Jonathan Klein hopes for.
As the leader of Temple Beth El in Bakersfield and a self-described “lifelong liberal Zionist,” Klein, 55, said he has kept a close watch on news out of Israel and Gaza.
“My community is pretty universally supportive of Israel’s efforts to combat what they see as an existential threat,” Klein said.
“But I recognize that just because Jews have a historic tie to the area doesn’t mean that other people don’t. Do I think co-existence is possible? I hope it is, but I do not know at this point.”
The poll finds significantly less support for an option espoused by some on the left — a unified bi-national state. One in eight voters said they would like to see a single state that would be neither Jewish nor Palestinian. Support for that comes mainly from the left, with just under 1 in 5 of the state’s liberals backing it.
There’s very little support for Hamas’ goal of an Arab state that would control all the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. While that idea has been backed by demonstrators at some recent protests, just 3% of the state’s voters support it. Support rises to 7% among those under 30 and 8% of those who identify as strongly liberal.
“Israel is an illegitimate state,” said Reza Nekumanesh, a 47-year-old Iranian American who lives in Fresno. “I don’t believe that means any particular group of people does not have the right to live and exist there in peace and equity and justice,” Nekumanesh said. “But I don’t believe any state should be founded and centered upon an ethnic or religious identity.”
At the other end of the ideological spectrum, 11% of the state’s voters back a single Israeli state controlling all the territory — the goal of the Israeli right.
Netanyahu and his allies have strong backing within Republican ranks, however, and support for Israeli control over the entire region rises to 31% among the state’s Republican voters and 43% of those who identify as strongly conservative.
Divided Sympathies
The poll finds 30% of California voters saying they sympathize more with Israelis than Palestinians in the current conflict and a similar share, 28%, sympathizing with both sides equally.
Mordecai Miller, a 74-year-old resident of Redwood City, said he felt pain for both sides, but felt closer to the plight of Israelis after Oct. 7.
“None of this war would have happened if Hamas had not intentionally attacked Israel and desired to eradicate it,” said Miller. “Israel has been forced to retaliate.”
A slightly smaller share, 24%, say they sympathize more with the Palestinians.
That includes Rami Sultan, a Palestinian American in Santa Clara who has family in Gaza.
The 41-year-old tech worker said he was incensed by what he described as “genocide.”
“This isn’t a war on Hamas at all. This is a clear war against the Palestinian people,” said Sultan.
Sympathies vary dramatically by age and ideology.
Among voters younger than 30, for example, 44% say they sympathize more with the Palestinians, while just 14% say they sympathize more with the Israelis and 21% with both equally.
Among those 65 and older, 46% sympathize more with the Israelis, 13% with the Palestinians and 32% with both equally.
Biden caught in middle
Divided opinion over the war has left President Biden vulnerable to criticism from both left and right.
Overall, 55% of the state’s voters disapprove of Biden’s response, while 33% approve.
But 64% of voters who describe themselves as strongly liberal disapprove of Biden’s response to the conflict, as do 67% of those who identify as strongly conservative.
The sharp division by age is a major factor, with 69% of voters younger than 30 and 65% of those 30-39 disapproving of how Biden has handled the conflict.
Melissa Brown, a 40-year-old conservative voter in San Diego, said Biden “was very strong on Israel at first, as he should have been.”
“He still is strong, but you can see him caving to the pressure from the left, sending messages that Israel needs to tone down its self-defense,” she said. “I disagree.”
Concern over antisemitism, Islamophobia
Despite their differences over the war and the underlying Israeli-Palestinian conflict, large majorities of California voters across party lines share a concern about a rise in anti-Jewish or anti-Arab violence or hate incidents.
Asked about antisemitic incidents, 80% of California voters say they’re concerned about them, 12% were not concerned. Similarly, 75% said they were concerned about anti-Arab or anti-Muslim incidents, compared with 17% who were not concerned.
The poll found very little division along ideological or party lines in concern about antisemitism, but a noticeable partisan difference over anti-Muslim incidents.
Among Democrats, the share who expressed concern about antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate were about equal. Among Republicans, 81% said they were concerned about antisemitism, while 13% were not. But 60% were concerned about anti-Muslim hate, compared to 31% who were not.
The Berkeley IGS poll surveyed 8,199 California registered voters. It was conducted online in English and Spanish on Jan. 4-8.
The results were weighted to match census and voter registration benchmarks, so estimates of the margin of error may be imprecise; however, the results have an estimated margin of error of 1.5 percentage points in either direction.
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FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans are pressing the Trump administration for answers over whether China is exploiting U.S. birthright citizenship and visa programs in a U.S. territory to secure long-term influence inside the United States.
In a letter sent Monday to outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., and 32 other GOP members raise concerns that so-called “birth tourism” and visa-waiver policies in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands could be leveraged by Chinese nationals in ways that present national security risks.
Noem will leave her position at the Department of Homeland Security at the end of the month.
“American citizenship is a sacred trust—not a loophole to be exploited. When foreign adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party can leverage birth tourism and visa-less programs to gain influence within our borders, we must restore integrity to our immigration system and defend the sovereignty of our Republic,” Roy said.
Tiffany argued that “Communist China has exploited ‘birth tourism’ by sending women to the Northern Mariana Islands solely to give birth and secure U.S. citizenship for their children,” adding that “It is time to close this loophole, end the abuse, and protect our national security.”
TRUMP SAYS SUPREME COURT RULING AGAINST BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER WOULD BENEFIT CHINA
House Republicans are pressing the Trump administration for answers over whether China is exploiting U.S. birthright citizenship and visa programs in a U.S. territory to secure long-term influence inside the United States. (GemStocks/Getty Images )
The Northern Mariana Islands is a U.S. territory in the Pacific, and like births in any U.S. state, children born there are granted American citizenship under the 14th Amendment, even though the territory operates under certain distinct immigration rules.
The lawmakers cite reports estimating that between 750,000 and 1.5 million Chinese nationals have obtained U.S. citizenship through birthright policies and birth tourism, though federal agencies have not publicly confirmed those figures. In their letter, Roy and Tiffany ask the Departments of Homeland Security, State and Interior to provide data on how many children have been born since 2009 to at least one Chinese national parent, how many have reached voting age, and how many are registered to vote in the United States.
They also ask whether any such individuals have documented ties to the Chinese Communist Party and request entry figures for Chinese nationals under Northern Mariana-specific immigration programs.
Under the 14th Amendment, individuals born on U.S. soil are generally granted citizenship at birth. The debate has centered on whether foreign nationals travel to the United States specifically to give birth so their children will obtain citizenship — a practice commonly referred to as birth tourism.
Federal prosecutors in recent years have brought criminal cases against operators of birth tourism businesses, particularly in California, where organizers were convicted of visa fraud and conspiracy for helping foreign nationals misrepresent their travel intentions in order to give birth in the United States.
The Northern Mariana Islands have long operated under distinct immigration frameworks. In 2009, the Obama administration implemented a categorical parole program allowing certain Chinese nationals to enter without obtaining a traditional U.S. tourist visa. The Biden administration in 2024 finalized a rule creating the Economic Vitality & Security Travel Authorization Program (EVS-TAP) for the Northern Mariana Islands, which allows certain Chinese nationals to enter the territory visa-free for short stays.
In a letter sent to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., and 32 other GOP members raise concerns that so-called “birth tourism” and visa-waiver policies in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) could be leveraged by Chinese nationals in ways that present national security risks. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Tiffany argued that “Communist China has exploited ‘birth tourism’ by sending women to the Northern Mariana Islands solely to give birth and secure U.S. citizenship for their children,” adding that “It is time to close this loophole, end the abuse, and protect our national security.” (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)
The lawmakers argue those policies created incentives for birth tourism in Saipan, the capital of the islands, pointing to reports that births to foreign visitors increased sharply after the 2009 changes.
NOEM BACKS SAVE AMERICA ACT, SLAMS ‘RADICAL LEFT’ OPPOSITION TO VOTER IDS AND PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP
They warn that once U.S.-born children turn 21, they can petition for lawful permanent resident status for their parents, potentially opening additional immigration pathways.
While the letter raises concerns that such individuals could eventually participate in U.S. elections, it does not cite evidence that large numbers are currently registered to vote or that the Chinese government has directed birth tourism as a coordinated strategy.
The Departments of Homeland Security and Interior did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment. The State Department referred back to the Department of Homeland Security.
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The letter comes amid heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing, with U.S. officials repeatedly warning about Chinese influence operations, intellectual property theft and espionage efforts targeting American institutions.
Roy and Tiffany urged the administration to end any parole or visa-waiver programs extended to Chinese nationals in the Northern Mariana Islands and to provide a full accounting of the scope of birth tourism involving PRC nationals.
The Chinese embassy could not immediately be reached for comment.
Scott MacFarlane, a high-profile hire for CBS News five years ago, announced Monday he is leaving the network.
MacFarlane told colleagues in an email that the departure is his decision.
“I will always value the opportunity I had to work alongside the talented and committed professionals here,” MacFarlane said. “I’m proud to have had the words ‘CBS correspondent’ next to my name and always will be.”
MacFarlane added that he looks forward to “some independence and finding new spaces to share my work in line with my personal goals.”
MacFarlane is the first significant name to depart CBS News since parent company Paramount won its bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery on Feb. 27. CBS News is likely to be combined with Warner Bros. Discovery’s CNN if the deal gets regulatory approval.
Journalists at CBS News have also been concerned over the moves by Bari Weiss, the contrarian opinion writer and founder of the digital news site the Free Press who was brought in as editor in chief of the division. Weiss was recruited by Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison with a mandate to move CBS News to the political center.
Weiss is expected to make significant changes to “60 Minutes” and other CBS News programs in the coming months.
Executives at other TV news organizations say privately that they are seeing a heavy influx of resumes from CBS News journalists due to the upheaval at the company.
MacFarlane covered Congress and the Justice Department. CBS viewers saw him featured during extended network coverage of the State of the Union addresses and election nights.
MacFarlane was in Butler, Pa., during the assassination attempt of President Trump in July 2024. He reported the first accounts of the shooting scene and emergency responses moments after the shots were fired.
Before arriving at CBS News, MacFarlane served for eight years as an investigative reporter for WRC-TV, the NBC station in Washington, D.C.
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Fresh satellite images give a rare aerial view of the damage across Iran after U.S.-Israeli strikes and what Tehran’s retaliation left behind across the region.
Planet Labs satellite imagery captured burning ships and damaged facilities at the Konarak base in southern Iran, as well as significant destruction at Iran’s naval headquarters in Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf, reflecting the scale of the strikes on military infrastructure.
Satellite imagery from Planet Labs shows damage at Konarak naval base in southern Iran, left, and Iran’s Bandar Abbas naval headquarters in the Persian Gulf, right. (Planet Labs PBC)
Imagery from Vantor shows damage to facilities and vessels located in Iran’s Bushehr port in the Persian Gulf.
In addition to naval assets, satellite photos show a bunker at Bushehr air base hit by a strike, leaving a large crater and destroying several nearby small buildings.
More strikes targeted the Choqa Balk drone facility in western Iran.
Radar systems at the Zahedan air base in eastern Iran — near the country’s borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan — were also struck.
The two facilities are about 800 to 900 miles apart, underscoring the broad reach of the coordinated strikes.
Satellite imagery also reveals damage to aircraft on the tarmac at Shiraz air base, including scorch marks and debris around several parking areas.
Side-by-side photos showing damage to aircraft at Shiraz air base in Shiraz, Iran on March 6, 2026. (Vantor/Maxar/Getty Images)
Satellite imagery from Planet Labs shows thick smoke plumes rising above Tehran, signaling explosions and fires inside the Iranian capital.
The smoke underscores how the conflict has moved beyond isolated military sites and into the heart of Iran’s political center.
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A satellite image from Planet Labs shows a plume of smoke above Tehran, Iran, on March 1, 2026. (Planet Labs PBC)
Iran has since responded with missile and drone strikes of its own, expanding the conflict across the region.
Satellite images reveal damage to the port city of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Sharjah is the third most populous after Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
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The Jebel Ali Port, the region’s largest maritime hub, was also targeted, underscoring how the retaliation extended beyond military sites to key infrastructure.
The new satellite imagery comes on the heels of U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and several top members of the regime, triggering a succession crisis.
President Donald Trump warned on Sunday that Iran’s new leader is “not going to last long” without U.S. approval as Operation Epic Fury marches into a third week.
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