ZOA poll shows support for Israel in US

Americans oppose giving land to the Palestinians by a 5-to-1 margin.

By HAVIV RETTIG GUR
jp.services2 (photo credit: )
jp.services2
(photo credit: )
Americans oppose giving land to Palestinians by a margin of 5-to-1, according to a new poll conducted by McLaughlin & Associates for the Zionist Organization of America. To the question, "In your opinion, should Israel give more land to the Palestinians?" 60 percent of Americans rejected ceding land while 11% favored it.
  • Poll: Israeli teens aware of global anti-Semitism The poll, conducted among 1,000 Americans on March 25, also found that Americans overwhelmingly (by a factor of 45% to 4.6%) supported Israel over the Palestinians in the context of the conflict. "This puts to rest that anti-Semitic nonsense [according to which] a small group of Jews are pushing America into doing Israel's will," commented ZOA head Morton Klein upon the release of the poll's findings on Tuesday. "American congressmen support Israel because their constituents do," he told The Jerusalem Post, adding, "if [Americans' support was] 10-to-1 in favor of the Arabs over Israel, I promise you Congress would not be supporting Israel." The study's findings indicate that a primary issue which may be detracting from support for the Palestinians is terrorism, with Americans believing by a factor of 45% to 22% that a Palestinian state would be a "terrorist state rather than a peceful democracy." "And it's not surprising," commented Klein, saying of the Palestinians: "It's not like they're acting like decent civilized people promoting peace. They're not. Most Palestinians say in polls [conducted in Palestinian areas] that even if they have a state they will continue with terrorism." The study also found a consistent trend in which some Americans - between a quarter and a half of the population - replied that they were not famaliar with the issue or had no preference for either sides. The study's findings regarding Egypt and Saudi Arabia show that Americans are almost as wary of these countries as they are of Palestinian intentions, as 65% of Americans believe that Saudi Arabia is an unreliable and untrustworthy ally "in the war against radical Islamic terrorism," according to the figures, compared with only 11% who believe the opposite. Similar sentiments (46% to 24%) were expressed towards Egypt, saying it was unreliable. The study also found that two-thirds favor imposing economic sanctions on Saudi Arabia "until it stops its support and funding for terrorists and radical Islamic education." This support comes from a thin majority of Americans, with 51% of those polled in favor of sanctions and 26% opposed.