March 2, 2012

Americans Continue to Tilt Pro-Israel

More view Israel favorably than the Palestinian Authority or Iran

by Elizabeth Mendes – Gallup
http://www.gallup.com/poll/153092/Americans-Continue-Tilt-Pro-Israel.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=plaintextlink&utm_term=Iran

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The large majority of Americans continue to view Israel
favorably (71%), while far fewer say they view the Palestinian Authority
(19%) or Iran (10%) very or mostly favorably.

These data are from Gallup's annual World Affairs survey, conducted each
February since 2001. The Feb. 2-5, 2012, survey asked Americans to rate a
list of more than 20 countries. Iran ranked at the very bottom, the
Palestinian Authority was several spots higher up, and Israel was much
closer to the top of the list.

President Obama is to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Monday at the White House, where the two leaders will likely focus most of
their discussion on their nations' respective stances toward Iran. Obama
made strong statements on the issue in an interview this week with The
Atlantic magazine, telling the publication that the United States "has
Israel's back." Both leaders are scheduled to address the upcoming American
Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington D.C., which will
also be highly focused on Iran. The three leading Republican presidential
candidates are also set to speak at the pro-Israel lobbying organization's
annual gathering -- each seeking to position himself as best equipped to
support Israel.

The majority of Republicans 80% , independents 71%, and Democrats 65% view
Israel favorably, though Republicans give Israel its most positive ratings.
All three groups are much less likely to view the Palestinian Authority
(Republicans 15% , independents 22%, and Democrats 22%) or Iran (Republicans
6% , independents 9%, and Democrats 12%) favorably.

Still, even while the Israel-Iran situation has been brought to the fore,
the unresolved issues between the Israelis and the Palestinians remain
prominent in U.S.-Israel relations.

On that front, most Americans also continue to say their sympathies are more
with the Israelis (61%) than with the Palestinians (19%).

Americans have consistently been more sympathetic to the Israelis than the
Palestinians since Gallup started asking the question in 1988. Since the
mid-2000s, Americans have become increasingly sympathetic to the Israelis
(last poll Republicans 78% , independents 56%, and Democrats 53%), while the
percentage sympathetic to the Palestinians has stayed the same. The
percentage volunteering a neutral position or no opinion has declined in
recent years. Republicans continue to be far more likely than independents
or Democrats to sympathize with the Israelis.

Bottom Line

The United States has long been an ally of Israel, and Americans continue to
show decidedly positive views toward that nation. As nations throughout the
Middle East undergo tumultuous change, perhaps making the region more
politically unstable, Americans still appear to see Israel as important,
with large majorities viewing it favorably and many more giving their
sympathies to the Israelis than to the Palestinians.

Americans' partiality toward Israel over Iran is also clear and is apparent
across party lines. While this doesn't necessarily mean Americans would
support Israeli military action against Iran over that country's nuclear
weapons development, it does suggest Americans would be sympathetic to
Israel's concerns, and react positively to Obama's recently supportive
statements toward Israel in the matter.

Survey Methods

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted
Feb. 2-5, 2012, with a random sample of 1,029 adults, aged 18 and older,
living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with
95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage
points.

Interviews are conducted with respondents on landline telephones and
cellular phones, with interviews conducted in Spanish for respondents who
are primarily Spanish-speaking. Each sample includes a minimum quota of 400
cell phone respondents and 600 landline respondents per 1,000 national
adults, with additional minimum quotas among landline respondents by region.
Landline telephone numbers are chosen at random among listed telephone
numbers. Cell phone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods.
Landline respondents are chosen at random within each household on the basis
of which member had the most recent birthday.

Samples are weighted by gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education,
region, adults in the household, and phone status (cell phone only/landline
only/both, cell phone mostly, and having an unlisted landline number).
Demographic weighting targets are based on the March 2011 Current Population
Survey figures for the aged 18 and older non-institutionalized population
living in U.S. telephone households. All reported margins of sampling error
include the computed design effects for weighting and sample design.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties
in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of
public opinion polls.