|
Trending Topics
|
Source: https://www.jpost.com/international/article-702281
U.S. Poll: Sympathy for the Palestinians Does Not Mean Hostility to Israel
(Jerusalem Post) Herb Keinon - Gallup's annual poll on attitudes toward Israel and the Palestinians shows that 71% of the U.S. public have a favorable or mostly favorable opinion of Israel in 2022. The favorability line has remained pretty even over the last 12 years. Overall support for Israel did not suffer when Netanyahu went to battle with Obama against the Iranian nuclear deal. In 2014 when the Obama-Netanyahu battles were in full swing, 71% of Democrats had a favorable opinion of Israel, the highest rating among Democrats in the last 22 years. Favorability to Israel fell from 75% in 2021, due largely to Republicans, as favorable opinions dropped from 91% in 2020 to 81% in 2022. Among Democrats, favorability dropped from 67% to 63%. However, the higher rating among Republicans has been a constant going back to 1989. Yet Democrats have not stopped being supportive of Israel. A 63% favorability rating does not make an anti-Israel party. Gallup also asks with which side people sympathize more: Israel or the Palestinians. Since 2018, sympathy for the Palestinians has been on a steady rise, and sympathy for Israel on a slight decline, from 59% in 2018 to 58% in 2021 and 55% in 2022. While 38% of Democrats say they are more sympathetic to the Palestinians, that does not necessarily mean they are hostile to Israel. Sympathy for the Palestinians among Democrats has to do with a liberal worldview that maintains that the weak are in the right. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel is the mightier party.