Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Rasmussen poll: 29% of Americans Expect U.S.-Israeli Relations To Worsen

A sizable number of U.S. voters continue to believe that relations between Israel and the United States will worsen in the year ahead.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 13% of Likely U.S. Voters think America's relationship with Israel will be better in a year's time, the lowest level measure since July. Twenty-nine percent (29%) expect that relationship to get worse over the next year, while 49% say it will remain about the same.

Fifty-seven percent (57%) of voters say Israel is an American ally, while only five percent (5%) view the Jewish state as a U.S. enemy. One-in-three voters (33%) feel Israel is somewhere in between an ally and enemy.

Republicans are more supportive of the country’s relationship with Israel than Democrats are. While 74% of GOP voters consider the Jewish nation an ally, only 45% of Democrats feel the same way.

But Democrats are more hopeful about future relations than Republicans: 20% of Democrats say U.S.-Israeli relations will be better a year from now, a view shared by just 12% of GOP voters.