Gallup poll: Dust-up with Obama has not cost Netanyahu support among US public

Despite being skewered in recent weeks by senior US officials and some mainstream media outlets, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s favorability rating among the US public is at a near-record high, according to a Gallup poll released on Monday.The results of the poll showed that tension with the President Barack Obama administration over his scheduled address to Congress on Tuesday has not harmed his image with the American public, and Americans see him about as favorably today as they did at any of the six measurements Gallup has taken since 1996.The most recent poll found that 45 percent of the American public views Netanyahu favorably, a statistical tie with his 1998 rating – when 46% had a positive opinion of him – and 10 percentage points more than in 2012. Asked if they have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Netanyahu, another 24% said they viewed him unfavorably.According to the poll, there are sharp party differences regarding Netanyahu, with the Republicans much more likely to view Netanyahu positively (60%) than negatively (18%), while Democrats are evenly divided: 31% favorable and 31% unfavorable.Among independents, 45% have a favorable view of Netanyahu, while 23% view him unfavorably.These results came from the annual Gallup World Affairs poll, conducted February 8-11, among 837 adults, age 18 and older. The poll had a ±4 percentage points sampling error.By comparison with Netanyahu’s numbers, a February 23 Economist/YouGov poll found 45% of 1,000 respondents holding a favorable opinion of Obama, and 50% giving him an unfavorable rating.