(BESA Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University) Prof. Eytan Gilboa - Surveys of American public opinion reveal that from 2000 to 2020, between 2/3 and 3/4 of Americans have consistently viewed Israel favorably and the Palestinian Authority unfavorably. During the first decade of this century, the average favorable-to-Israel percentage was 64%; in the second it climbed to 71%. The PA's scores were exactly the opposite. This sentiment is probably related to the fact that Israel is a liberal democracy, while the PA is a corrupt, ineffective, and failed dictatorship. In recent years, there has been some increase in sympathy with the Palestinians, but this didn't necessarily come at the expense of sympathy with Israel. At the same time, according to the Gallup poll, in 2020, 55% of Americans supported a Palestinian state, with 34% opposed. This could reflect Trump's inclusion of a prospective Palestinian state in his peace plan. The writer is a senior research associate at the BESA Center.
2020-05-12 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive