Gallup: Americans still overwhelmingly support Israel
Americans choose Israel over the Palestinians at near-historical levels.
Gallup released today its annual survey of American opinion regarding Israel and the Palestinians.
The survey shows that support for Israel versus the Palestinians remains near historical highs, slightly up from last year:
Americans’ views about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remained steady over the past year, with 62% of Americans saying their sympathies lie more with the Israelis and 15% favoring the Palestinians. About one in four continue to be neutral, including 9% who sympathize with neither side, 3% who sympathize with both, and 11% expressing no opinion.
This data shows, as I have argued frequently, that the “Israel Lobby” is the American people. That support is organic, not imposed by political donors or lobbying groups.
The demographic breakdown is not as detailed as I would have liked, but does provide some detail as to party differences. Not surprisingly, Republican preference for Israel over the Palestinians is overwhelming, while the gap is much smaller but still strong among Democrats and Independents.
Among all party affiliations, preference for Israel over the Palestinians is much stronger than before 9/11 and the Second Intifada (suicide bombing campaign started by Yasser Arafat after Palestinians walked away from the Camp David negotiations).
Preference among Democrats has ticked up by 4 percent since last year. That demonstrates, as I predicted at the time, that the 2015 survey results showing a loss of support among Democrats likely was a result of the dispute regarding Bibi Netanyahu’s appearance before Congress and very public spat with Obama.
The survey provides some demographic breakdown, but without historical trends.
All major demographic and political subgroups of Americans lean toward Israel over the Palestinians on this question. However, several characteristics are related to the extent of public support for Israel.
Chief among these are religious preference and party identification. Gallup finds a 31-percentage-point difference in sympathy for Israel between Protestants (72%) and nonreligious Americans (41%), and a 26-point difference between Republicans (79%) and Democrats (53%). That contrasts with a 19-point difference between highly religious and nonreligious Americans, and an 18-point difference between older and younger Americans.
I’d like more detail particularly as to the age gap. The age categories are so broad that it’s hard to see if there is dramatic difference among the youngest in the 18-29 age group. Are Americans coming out of the anti-Israel Higher Ed system being influenced as a broad group, or just among the most liberal/progressive as some prior surveys have shown. We don’t get the answers to those questions, but the 2015 survey indicates an upward trend in support for Israel among all age groups:
All of the above demonstrates that politically, particularly in a general election and Republican primaries, support for Israel is a winning issue.
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God bless his chosen people.
In 1948, when presented with a 2-State plan, the Arabs said no. Then, the Jews out-thought and out-fought 5 Arab armies (including one trained by the Brits). Even caught off-guard during Yom Kippur they still walloped Arabs. Thanks to the Muslim loving al-Chicagi, the next time the Arabs attack, the Persians will be providing the nuclear weapons.
I still think Israel will come out on top.
I can’t think of anything more abhorrent than Islamism. My impression from news coverage is that the elitists are doing their best to portray Americans support Palestine over Israel at a rate much greater than 15%.
I think we are seeing an effect of the Internet.
I started using the internet to monitor and fact-check the news during the run-up to the war in Iraq. In 2001, it was barely useable. At the time, it was very difficult to keep track of, or even find out identification of, the international players.
Now I know the difference between Iraq and Iran.
Along the way, news from Israel and the Palestinians became much more intelligible.
At first, I assumed that the Israelis and the Palestinians were embroiled in a feud. That is, an extremely long-running fight that nobody really understood, or even knew the origins.
Over time I discovered that the Palestinians were engaged in a vicious propaganda campaign based on falsehood. The falsehoods were overwhelming, from lies about how Israel was founded, to Geneva Convention violations, to accusations of atrocities actually committed by Hamas. I also discovered that the Israelis showed enormous restraint and sustained efforts to show good will toward their neighbors.
Then, I found the Hamas Covenant.
So now I know that there is fault in this conflict, and it belongs to Hamas and its enablers. I know this because of what I have learned via news coverage largely unavailable except through my computer.
I am sure I am not the only one.
I’m not sure the majority of those with a positive view of Israelis also see Hamas or the PLO, etc., as the bigger problem. I agree with you, but there are likely many progressives who are still reasonable when it come to Israel but don’t know how to take an honest look at the Palestinians without ruining their narratives.
Even with such an antagonistic and unhelpful administration as we have right now, I cannot imagine where Israel and Jews globally would be without the U.S. and our total support, moral and otherwise.
I think there is a huge cultural piece to this. Except for some of the most extreme left – those SJWs who find no shortage of causes nor classifications and groupings of people to then define as oppressed in any number of fabricated ways – most people recognize Israel is the most free and fair country in the entire East/Middle East. It may even be more free than Japan. Israel may rival the UK for our empathy, affections, and overall ability to relate to.
I wonder what kind of secret deal Obama made with the Iranians.