Survey shows Israelis prefer Clinton over Trump

When asked which candidate would best serve Israel’s interests as president, 25% said Trump, 24% said Clinton, and 6% each said Cruz, Rubio and Sanders. Thirty- three percent said they did not know.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
Updated: MARCH 14, 2016 05:18
Trump and Clinton (photo credit: REUTERS)
Trump and Clinton
(photo credit: REUTERS)
A significant majority of Israelis would prefer Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton over Republican front-runner Donald Trump in the November 8 American election, according to a poll published over the weekend.
Clinton was preferred by 38 percent of respondents, followed by Trump with 23%, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders with 7%, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz with 5% and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio with 4%. Twenty- three percent said they did not know whom to support.
Trump had more support among Likud voters, while Clinton had more backing from voters of Yesh Atid, the Zionist Union, Kulanu and Meretz.
When asked which candidate would best serve Israel’s interests as president, 25% said Trump, 24% said Clinton, and 6% each said Cruz, Rubio and Sanders. Thirty- three percent said they did not know.
Kulanu MK Michael Oren, a former ambassador to the US, said he was not surprised by Clinton’s support.
“They prefer Hillary because she’s a known commodity,” he said. “The Clintons have always been popular here.
She may disagree with Israelis on settlements and east Jerusalem, but she has a warm place for Israel. For Israelis, it’s about their security, not a popularity contest, and Trump right now is very big question mark.”
The poll of 499 Israeli Jews and 102 Israeli Arabs representing a statistical sample of the Israel adult population was conducted by respected pollster Camille Fuchs for the news website Walla. It included all remaining candidates in the race, except Ohio Gov.
John Kasich, who is unknown in Israel.
And in a Panels Research Poll conducted last Wednesday and Thursday for the Knesset Channel, 500 respondents representing a statistical sample of the Israeli population were asked whether they thought US President Barack Obama would embark on a new Middle East peace initiative in his final year in office.
Fifty-one percent said no, 34% said yes, and 15% said they did not know.
Asked if they thought Obama should undertake a new effort to resolve the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, 24% said yes, 58% said he should leave the issue for his successor, and the rest said they did not know or declined to respond. The poll had a 4.3 percentage point margin of error.