(via Walla). Despite the difficulties facing the American Jewish voters in support of his reelection, Barack Obama can find some comfort in what can be described as a significant improvement in the general perception of the President of the United States among the Israeli public.
A new poll conducted by the Saban Center for Middle East Policy/ Maryland University shows 54% of Israeli Jews have a favorable view of President Obama, while only 39% have a negative view of the President. Last year, 51% Jewish Israelis had a negative view of the President.
However only 22% are satisfied with the Obama administration Middle east policies, and 39% expressed disappointment.
Overall a majority of Israeli Jews -80%, expressed a positive/favorable view of the American superpower.
49% of respondents in the survey believe that will never be peace with the Palestinians, while 42% still believe in peace, but do not expect it to happen over the next five years. However, Two-thirds of the Jewish respondents in the survey believe that Israel should do more to promote a comprehensive settlement based on the '67 borders with reciprocal land swaps, and 43% support such an arrangement. 31% oppose withdrawal from the territories, even if all the Arab states accept and recognize Israel.
The survey results also indicate, encompassing 500 Jewish public respondents and 500 respondents among the Arab - Israeli (sampling error of 4.4 to 4.5%), that the Israeli public is deeply divided about a possible military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. 43% of Israeli Jews support attacking Iran's nuclear facilities, while 41% opposed. However, among the Arab public, which is nearly 20% of the population, only 4% support a military strike, while 68% are opposed.
An overwhelming majority of the Jewish community in Israel - 90%, believe that there is no doubt that Iran will eventually develop nuclear weapons. Given a choice between two scenarios, 65% of Israelis prefer to demilitarize both Iran and Israel from nuclear weapons, while only 19% prefer a scenario in which both nations have a nuclear arsenal.