Kesher Talk

American opinion on Israel The Project on International Policy Attitudes has their latest analysis of American public opinion of the Middle East. Their analyses are usually good, though they often draw out far more detail than is supported by the polls...

Views of Israel and Palestinians: Americans have a fairly positive view of Israel and a very strong majority views Israel as a friend, but only a substantial minority views it as an ally, and Americans are divided over sending US troops to defend Israel in the event it is attacked. In the wake of September 11th views toward Israel grew marginally warmer, even though Americans see a link between the attacks and US support for Israel. A plurality to slight majority has a negative view of the Palestinian Authority and Yasser Arafat, but a very strong majority now favors the idea of a Palestinian state.

Support for a Palestinian State: A very strong majority supports President Bush's position in favor of a Palestinian state. Without the context of the President's support, a slim majority or plurality is in favor.

View of Israel-Palestinian Conflict: When viewing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict more Americans tend to be sympathetic to Israel, but this has rarely been a majority position. While more Americans blame the Palestinians than Israel for the impasse, in most cases a majority refuses to blame one side over the other and a strong majority thinks that both sides need to change. The majority is pessimistic about the potential for resolving the conflict.

US Role in Negotiations: The majority of Americans want the US to play an active role in the Middle East peace process. A very strong majority of Americans wants the US to play an even- handed role in this process, but a majority feels that in fact the US favors Israel. This support for an even-handed approach extends to the idea of equalizing the level of aid between Israeli and the Palestinians in the event of a peace agreement, and a slight majority favors the idea of the parties sharing Jerusalem as a international city. A strong majority favors putting more pressure on both parties to resolve the conflict, and thinks it is reasonable to expect more cooperation in light of the war on terrorism.

posted by Howard @ 1/14/2002 12:43:00 PM