Israel Matzav

Republicans more pro-Israel than Democrats

A survey of American voters carried out by The Israel Project shows that although Americans overall strongly support Israel, a higher percentage of those who plan to vote for John McCain in November support Israel than do those who plan to vote for one of the Democratic candidates. As between Clinton and Obama supporters, the level of support for Israel is about even.

"Support for Israel has significantly increased" said Laszlo Mizrahi, noting a figure of 60% who declared themselves to be Israel supporters, 27% strong Israel supporters, 31% Palestinian supporters and only 8% neither or undecided.

The poll revealed that McCain voters are more likely to support Israel than their Democratic counterparts, but support for Israel is across the board, and 71% of Americans think that America should support Israel in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Americans also overwhelmingly support Jerusalem remaining unified under Israeli control and the (unrealistic for the foreseeable future) 'two-state solution.'

Support for a two-state solution to the conflict is extremely high - above 80%. The majority believes an independent Palestinian state will improve the economic future of the Palestinian people; 67% think it will make Israel more secure as a nation and 59% are convinced it will reduce Palestinian terrorism against Israel.

But only 46% of those respondents thought that such a situation would result in lasting peace for the region, while 48% said that it wouldn't.

Interestingly enough, American support for Jerusalem remaining under Israeli sovereignty and not being divided is as high as 72%, but Laszlo Mizrahi attributed this to the timing of the poll, which took place not long after the massacre at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva.

Americans also understand that our conflict with the 'Palestinians' and with the Arabs generally is not about land, but about Israel's character as a Jewish state.

While Palestinians consistently talk about the expropriation of their land, Americans, according to the poll, overwhelmingly believe that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is about ideology and religion and not about land.

American voters blame the Gaza humanitarian crisis on the Hamas leadership rather than Israel, and more than 90% of Americans believe that the Palestinians must stop their missile attacks before a two-state solution can work. Almost as many justify Israel defending itself and taking action to end terrorism, just as America would do under similar circumstances.

That's the good news. Here's the less good news in this poll.

"Three quarters of the American Jewish community say that there are other issues more important than Israel," she said, saying only 23 percent of the Jewish population listed Israel as a top issue. The poll had a 3.5% margin of error. [Note that's A top issue, not THE top issue. If they had said Israel was A top issue but not THE top issue, I would not be concerned. CiJ]

While 51% of the respondents acknowledged that the economy and jobs were their major concern, only 7% cited the Middle East conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and the threat of Iran.

I also found it distressing that 40% of respondents regard Israel as 'extreme.'

While the majority of likely voters viewed Israel as a moderate among the Middle East players, there was a dramatic difference in their perceptions of Iran, Hamas, Hizbullah, and the Palestinian Authority.

Iran was generally regarded as the most extreme, with 84% of respondents categorizing it as extreme, and Hamas was seen as extreme by 72%. Hizbullah was seen as extreme by 64% while 68% thought the Palestinian Authority was an extremist organization.

On the other hand, 40% of respondents said that Israel is extreme, and, even when compared to the others listed above, only 54% said Israel was the most moderate, followed by the Palestinian Authority, 21%, Iran 12% and Hamas and Hizbullah 10% each.

There's a bunch of stuff about Iran in this poll too. Read the whole thing.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:00 PM