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By James Zogby, Foreign Correspondent
Despite claiming continued support for Israel, a majority of US residents want a change in policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A decisive plurality said US aid to Israel is “too much“, and a majority want to see Israel penalised for building new settlements on Palestinian land.
These were some of the findings of a Zogby International interactive survey of 4,320 US adults conducted in April for the Doha Debate, a BBC programme based in Qatar. Zogby International is a polling firm headed by my brother John.
Support for Israel remains high, with 71 per cent of US respondents having a favourable attitude towards Israelis and only 21 per cent holding a negative view. Attitudes towards the Palestinian people, on the other hand, are in the inverse, with a favourable rating of 25 per cent and an unfavourable mark of 66 per cent. Even Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is viewed positively by 52 per cent of US residents, while Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, is seen favourably by only 19 per cent - with an unfavourable rating of 59 per cent.
Establishing this support for Israel and strong negative views of Palestinians is important and makes even more significant the other findings.
When asked whether they agreed with the proposition that “both Israelis and Palestinians are entitled to equal rights”, 84 per cent of respondents agreed. And by a margin of 67 per cent to 17 per cent, they continue to support the idea that “there should be an independent Palestinian state”.
When asked to characterise the direction of the policies pursued by the Bush administration, 71 per cent said George W Bush favoured Israel, while only 15 per cent felt that the former president had a balanced policy “steering a middle course” between the sides. When asked about how Barack Obama should direct his policy - towards Israel, towards the Palestinians, or “steer a middle course favouring neither side” - 49 per cent of the public believe Mr Obama should favour neither side with 33 per cent pushing support of Israel and nine per cent saying he should favour the Palestinians.
This almost innate sense of balance and fairness comes through once again when those questioned were asked how best to solve complicated “final status” issues. A plurality, for example, agree that Palestinians should be guaranteed “the right of return”. Similarly, a plurality agree that Israeli settlements built on Palestinian land in the West Bank “should be torn down and the land returned“. And on Jerusalem, respondents are evenly divided as to whether it should be partitioned or remain under Israeli control.
Americans don’t like aid
Foreign aid has never been popular with US voters, and amid the economic meltdown it is less so. Although citizens are evenly divided on whether the US should talk to Hamas “as they would with any other democratically elected groups”, this tolerance does not translate into support for aid to the group. Sixty-seven per cent support the US decision to suspend aid to the Palestinian Authority after Hamas’s victory - until Hamas agrees to recognise Israel, renounce violence and commit to previously signed agreements between the PA and Israel. Yet, strong pluralities also feel US aid to Israel - amounting to US billion (Dh110bn) over the next 10 years - and the 0 million in humanitarian aid to the Palestinians is “too much”.
Getting tough
The specific issue addressed by the Doha Debate in its televised session from Georgetown University was “Resolved: This House believes it’s time for the US administration to get tough on Israel.” At the debate’s conclusion, the resolution won the support of 63 per cent of the audience.
As the results of the Zogby poll show, the post-debate vote reflects a developing trend in US public opinion. When asked, “Should the US government get tough with Israel?” - a slight plurality agreed. But when asked about two issues that framed much of the debate’s discussion, US residents had sharper views. For example, asked whether “US support for Israel makes the US more or less respected in the world”, 44 per cent responded “less respected”, as opposed to only 13 per cent who said “more respected”. And when asked what the United States should do about Israel’s settlement policies, 50 per cent said “get tough with Israel and attempt to stop the expansion“, while 19 per cent said the US should “do nothing and allow the settlements to continue”; 31 per cent were unsure.
Source: The Source
April 27, 2009 Posted by Elias
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