A Darmouth foreign policy poll of American attitudes, conducted in May and June, has interesting questions and answers regarding Israel. See Questions 49-52.
Q 49. A national interests question: 52 percent of Americans think the U.S. depends on Israel to protect “vital interests” in the Middle East. 17 percent don’t believe so.
Q 50: Another national interests question, we’re winning this one: 61 percent of Americans agree that “Current U.S. military, economic and political support for Israel angers many Muslims and makes terrorist attacks against the United States and our interests more likely.” Only 6.9 percent disagree.
And when you shake out Republicans and Democrats, 65 percent of Republicans agree, 61 percent of Democrats.
Q 51. Your congresspeople, are they more favorable to Israel than you are, or less? Democrats say they are more favorable, by 34 percent to 7 percent. (Just as favorable and don’t know: 58 percent). This suggests to me that the Democratic Party is out of step with its base on the issue.
The numbers are almost reversed for Republicans (with large blocs in both parties saying they don’t know or the politicians are just as favorable.)
Q 52: When it comes to influencing U.S. policy toward Israel and the Middle East, do you think that “pro-Israel lobby groups” have too much influence, or too little? Overall, people say too much by 28 percent to 13 percent. And Democrats say, Too much by 38 percent to 7 percent. Republicans are flipflopped (too little: 26 percent, too much, 13.5 percent). Again, a sign that the Democratic base is way to the left of the Democratic Party.
PS Jim Lobe was on to this a month back…
I will be interested to see how this trend progresses in the weeks and months ahead as Israel is exposed in all its glory to the American public, one veil at a time.
I believe we have reached the tipping point – the pivotal moment in history when Americans take their country back from foreign control.
Politicians – beware. If you are smart, you will read the tea leaves and start to make amends, or perish in the ensuing tempest.
If Israel keeps up it’s “bull in a china shop” behavior (and there’s no reason to believe it won’t), it will be exposed eventually. The question is when.
And I don’t think the Iraq War was particularly helpful to them, since more people have started looking at these issues in it’s aftermath.
The problem as I see it is how do you reach the “they’ve been fighting each other other for thousands of years [um, no actually *they* haven’t –chinese box], let them kill each other” crowd. The willfully ignorant types who can’t locate I/P on a map are as big a problem as the Zios, IMO.
“Could lead to terrorist attacks” is one thing, but what about recent history? Bin Laden repeatedly said U.S. support for Israeli oppression of Palestinians was his primary motivation for orchestrating the September 11, 2001 attacks. What percentage of Americans know this? What percentage of Americans know anything about the blowback U.S. support for Israeli apartheid has already caused? What would happen if all the data/tapes/files that the U.S. took possession of from Bin Laden’s compound were to be released to the public?
Interesting that pollees say by 49% they pay close attention to foreign policy yet 50% of them mistakenly think the US has a formal Treaty with Israel.
What this and most polls tell me is a large percentage of people get their opinions from mass media and cable news.
But it is interesting that 28.1% say the Israel Lobby has too much influence and 36.6% say they’ don’t know’ if it does or not. Educate that 36.6% and you’ve got a huge majority.
28% is a good number and astounding really when you consider how Israel firsters have such total control over our media and news outlets and the decades old and rentless propagandizing of the public on Israel.
When one thinks about it, how does the ‘War on Terror’ most directly, tangibly affect the most Americans?
Why, in those stupid lines, of course. On average, we must each have to go through one of those once a month. I am getting tired of always having to remember to leave my pocket knife at home and having to take off my belt, empty my pockets, etc — and then put it all back again fifteen seconds later. Could we quit?
Now, get Americans to make the connection between having to do this and our support of Israel — and make them aware that Israel is at best a questionable cause — and we’re home free. They don’t need to be completely converted. Just make them realize that actually, Israel isn’t all that great a guy, and its cause isn’t necessarily self-evidently just, and you’ve got a winner.
Every time an American has to stand in another one of those stupid lines.