The lead headline on JTA.org was a bit surprising today – "Support for Israel near record high, Gallup Poll shows." Not impossible I guess, but kinda surprising. The article reads:
Support for Israel among Americans is at a near record high, a new poll showed.
According to the Gallup Poll, 63 percent of Americans say their sympathies in the Middle East conflict are with Israel, while 15 percent side with the Palestinians. The rest favor both sides, neither side or have no opinion.
Support for Israel was higher only in 1991, shortly after Israel was hit with Scud missiles during the Gulf War, when it was at 64 percent.
The poll, conducted in early February . .
Wait, this "new" poll is five months old? It was taken before Israel humiliated Vice President Biden? Before Biden and General Petraeus said Israel is hurting US interests in the Middle East? Before the flotilla attack?!
Leigh O’Neill, the Arab American Institute’s Director of Government Relations, sent me an AAI poll that begins to tell a different story. Conducted in the middle of March the poll showed that, while Americans do hold more favorable view of Israel than the Palestinians, a majority also believed that "it’s time for the U.S. to ‘get tough’ with Israel ‘to stop building settlements.’” There was also an overwhelming belief, (81% – 15%) that the "Israeli-Palestinian conflict has a negative impact on U.S. interests." Paints a different picture, doesn’t it?
And of course even that poll was before the flotilla. Didi Remez posted the leaked results of a Frank Luntz poll taken following the flotilla attack which showed:
1. 56% of Americans agree with the claim that there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza;
2. 43% of Americans agree with the claim that people in Gaza are starving;
3. [Only] 34% of Americans support the Israeli operation against the Flotilla;
4. [Only] 20% of Americans “felt support” for Israel following announcement of easing of Gaza closure.
So, in February 63% of Americans felt their sympathies were with Israel, and by June only 20% of Americans felt support for Israel – and this was after they eased the Gaza blockade to ostensibly improve their international image. I’d say it’s been a rough few months for Israeli hasbara. Thanks for reminding us of the way things used to be JTA!
