(Israeli Project).A Majority of U.S. voters believe the United States should support Israel while only four percent think it should back the Palestinians, a new national poll sponsored by The Israel Project has found.
The poll of 800 registered voters showed that 51 percent favored the United States supporting Israel. Some 45 percent viewed the Jewish state positively while 13 percent had a negative opinion. The Palestinians were viewed negatively by 38 percent, versus 16 percent who had a positive view.
Asked who was responsible for the recent breakdown in peace negotiations between the parties, 12 percent blamed Israel and 22 percent the Palestinians, while 18 percent said both sides were responsible. However 43 percent declined to answer the question, indicating a high level of uncertainty among the U.S. electorate.
44% consider themselves personally as a strong supporter of Israel, a decline of 59% in August 2009, 62% of Republicans describe themselves as strong supporter of Israel, while only 32% of Democrats hold the same personal view.
Said Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, Founder and President of The Israel Project, “It is clear that a majority of voters continue to believe the U.S. should support Israel.”
Voters said the best reasons for the U.S. to stand with Israel are that “Israel is our most important ally in the Middle East” (33%), “Israel shares our values including the freedom of speech, religion, press, and the right to vote” (31%), and that “Israel is a partner with the U.S. in our fight against terrorism” (24%).
The poll was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research on December 12-14, 2010. Of the 800 voters surveyed, 100 were reached via cell-phone and 700 via land-line telephone. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.46 percentage points.