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Friday, June 19, 2009
Poll: Israelis oppose full settlement freeze 69%:27%, only 6% say Obama favors Israel

Poll conducted 16-17 June

Do you consider Obama's administration to be pro-Israel, pro-Palestinian or
neutral?
Pro-Israel 6% Pro-Palestinian 50% Neutral 36%

Do you support Netanyahu's vision of a demilitarized Palestinian state?
Favor 70% Oppose 27% No opinion 3%

Are you in favor of

a) removing illegal outposts in Judea and Samaria (IMRA: They are
"unauthorized" - not "illegal")
Favor 57% Oppose 38% No opinion 5%

b) Freezing construction in isolated far flung settlements?
Favor 52% Oppose 42% No opinion 6%

c) Freezing construction in large settlement blocs like Gush Etzion, Ma'aleh
Adumim and Ariel?
Favor 27% Oppose 69% No opinion 4%

Only 6 percent of Jewish Israelis consider the views of American President
Barack Obama's administration pro-Israel, according to a new Jerusalem
Post-sponsored Smith Research poll.

The poll, which has a margin of error of 4.5%, was conducted among a
representative sample of 500 Israeli Jewish adults this week, following
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's speech in which he expressed his support
for a demilitarized Palestinian state.

Another 50% of those sampled consider the policies of Obama's administration
more pro-Palestinian than pro-Israeli, and 36% said the policies were
neutral. The remaining 8% did not express an opinion.

'6% see US administration as pro-Israel'
Gil Hoffman , THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 19, 2009
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1245184872947&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull
Only 6 percent of Jewish Israelis consider the views of American President
Barack Obama's administration pro-Israel, according to a new Jerusalem
Post-sponsored Smith Research poll.

The poll, which has a margin of error of 4.5%, was conducted among a
representative sample of 500 Israeli Jewish adults this week, following
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's speech in which he expressed his support
for a demilitarized Palestinian state.

Another 50% of those sampled consider the policies of Obama's administration
more pro-Palestinian than pro-Israeli, and 36% said the policies were
neutral. The remaining 8% did not express an opinion.

The numbers were a stark contrast to the last poll published May 17, on the
eve of the meeting between Netanyahu and Obama at the White House. In that
poll, 31% labeled the Obama administration pro-Israel, 14% considered it
pro-Palestinian and 40% said it was neutral. The other 15% declined to give
an opinion.

Israelis' views of Obama's predecessor in the White House, George W. Bush,
are nearly the opposite. According to last month's poll, 88% of Israelis
considered his administration pro-Israel, 7% said Bush was neutral and just
2% labeled him pro-Palestinian.

One possible explanation for the Obama administration's plummeting approval
rating among Israelis is its opposition to building for natural growth in
settlement blocs and its refusal to differentiate its policies regarding
construction in unauthorized outposts, settlement blocs close to the Green
Line and suburbs of Jerusalem.

The poll found that Israelis, by contrast, emphatically distinguish between
outposts, isolated settlements and settlement blocs in the West Bank.
Regarding outposts, 57% favor removing them, 38% are against, and 5% did not
express an opinion.

When asked about freezing construction in "far-flung, isolated settlements,"
52% were in favor, 42% were against and 6% would not say. But when it comes
to "large settlement blocs like Gush Etzion, Ma'ale Adumim and Ariel," just
27% said they were in favor of stopping building, 69% were against and 4%
did not express an opinion.

Netanyahu's advisers and aides offered different explanations for Israelis'
negative opinion on Obama. One said the media had exaggerated its portrayal
of a strained relationship between the administrations in Jerusalem and
Washington, and that Israelis overwhelmingly sided with Netanyahu.

Another adviser said polls have consistently shown that Israelis believed
the Arabs were at fault for the lack of Middle East peace and they reject
perceived attempts by Obama to blame Israel or take an even-handed approach.

The advisers suggested that the positive atmosphere regarding Netanyahu
after his speech also had an impact. They said polls have shown that an
overwhelming majority of Israelis agreed with Netanyahu's vision and
believed he was speaking for a consensus of Israelis in his response to
Obama's speech to the Muslim world in Cairo.

Netanyahu's external adviser Zalman Shoval, who was speaking for himself,
questioned whether the Obama administration could mediate the Middle East
conflict due to the numbers and its recent statements and actions.

"Some of the indications we have seen in the last few weeks make it more
difficult for Israelis to see the US in its traditional role as an honest
broker," said Shoval, a former ambassador to the US, who will head a
committee on Israel-American relations that national security adviser Uzi
Arad will form soon. "The vast majority of Israelis don't blame the prime
minister for a confrontation with the US. They are putting the onus on the
Obama administration."

Shoval is in Washington as a guest of local think tanks. He will meet with
top American officials in the National Security Council and the State
Department - not as an emissary of Netanyahu, though he will report back to
the prime minister.

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