(Haaretz).U.S. President Barack Obama's popularity may be declining in American public opinion, and only 18% Israeli's think Obama's approach towards Israel is friendly,but a majority of 51% Israelis think his treatment of this country is fair, according to a Haaretz-Dialog poll conducted this week.
The poll also found that most Israelis don't believe politicians who call Obama anti-Semitic or hostile to Israel, or who say he is "striving to topple Netanyahu."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's aides said they had hoped the public would rally around him and see him as a victim of overly strict treatment by the Obama administration.
However, there was no significant change in the level of public satisfaction with Netanyahu since the previous poll, conducted six weeks earlier. Respondents' evaluation of his suitability as premier also remained stable (36%).
It appears the public was relatively unfazed by the Israeli and American media frenzy over the diplomatic drama. Perhaps Israelis are too busy cleaning and shopping for Passover or looking for cheap vacations.
The survey indicates that Netanyahu emerged from the crisis unscathed in the eyes of Israeli public opinion.
Nearly half the respondents (48 percent) said Israel must keep building in the capital, even at the expense of a rift with the United States, while 41 percent said Israel must accept the American demand (and Palestinian ultimatum) to stop building in Jerusalem until the end of the negotiations (which haven't begun yet).
A large majority of 61% believes Netanyahu is not deliberately causing a crisis to thwart talks with the Palestinians, as some have argued. A smaller majority does not believe Netanyahu should fire Eli Yishai, whose Interior Ministry announced the construction during Biden's visit. Yishai is not particularly liked by the mainstream, but Israelis aren't that interested in seeing heads roll - or the coalition destabilized - over this incident.
The poll also found that most Israelis don't believe politicians who call Obama anti-Semitic or hostile to Israel, or who say he is "striving to topple Netanyahu."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's aides said they had hoped the public would rally around him and see him as a victim of overly strict treatment by the Obama administration.
However, there was no significant change in the level of public satisfaction with Netanyahu since the previous poll, conducted six weeks earlier. Respondents' evaluation of his suitability as premier also remained stable (36%).
It appears the public was relatively unfazed by the Israeli and American media frenzy over the diplomatic drama. Perhaps Israelis are too busy cleaning and shopping for Passover or looking for cheap vacations.
The survey indicates that Netanyahu emerged from the crisis unscathed in the eyes of Israeli public opinion.
Nearly half the respondents (48 percent) said Israel must keep building in the capital, even at the expense of a rift with the United States, while 41 percent said Israel must accept the American demand (and Palestinian ultimatum) to stop building in Jerusalem until the end of the negotiations (which haven't begun yet).
A large majority of 61% believes Netanyahu is not deliberately causing a crisis to thwart talks with the Palestinians, as some have argued. A smaller majority does not believe Netanyahu should fire Eli Yishai, whose Interior Ministry announced the construction during Biden's visit. Yishai is not particularly liked by the mainstream, but Israelis aren't that interested in seeing heads roll - or the coalition destabilized - over this incident.