Poll: Americans love Israel

Israel's place in the hearts of Americans may have  deteriorated slightly, but remains high. According to a new Gallup poll  released over the weekend, Israel ranks fifth among the countries viewed most favorably by Americans, behind Canada, Great Britain, Germany and Japan. 67% of Americans have a favorable view of Israel. India got a slighly less favorable rating of 66%.

 

A similar poll in 2008 gave Israel a 71% approval rating, somewhat higher than the present results, but in that poll all the high ranking countries had more favorable scores than they did in the current poll. In any case, friction with the Obama administration and the Gaza war have not really affected American sympathies for Israel, according to these results. As might be expected, Gallup polls taken in other contexts seem to yield somewhat different results. When asked whether they favor Israel or the Arabs, only about 59% of Americans say they favor Israel. However, this percentage has increased over the years since 1967.

 

 Only 10% of American respondents had a faborable view of Iran in the current poll, 20% had a favorable view of the Palestinian Authority. Republicans like Israel somewhat more than Democrats.

 

Israel does not seem to have a real "image problem" in the United States. European perceptions of Israel are a different matter.

 

Ami Isseroff