Poll shows greater greater American support for Israelis than Palestinians

New York, Sep.6 (ANI): A recent poll for The Israel Project shows support has bounced back in the United States for Israelis rather than the Palestinians after slipping in the aftermath of US President Barack Obama's Cairo speech.

The poll, conducted by Neil Newhouse of Public Opinion Strategies and Stan Greenberg of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research (GQRR), asked some 800 likely US voters the following question: "Thinking about the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in the Middle East, please tell me whether, in general, you consider yourself to be an Israel supporter, Palestinian supporter, or neither/undecided."

Some 59 percent of the respondents said they were Israel supporters, compared to 29 percent for the Palestinians. The poll was conducted by telephone from August 22 to 25.

This was a considerable jump in support for Israel since June, following the US president's speech in Cairo, when the same question was asked and Israel's support was only 49 percent, reports the Jerusalem Post.

The number of Americans who think America should support Israel over the Palestinians also increased considerably over the last two months, with 63 percent saying the US should support Israel, and 24 percent saying it should support the Palestinians. In June, that number was 44 percent for Israel, and 32 percent for the Palestinians.

According to the poll, 57 percent of the public believes Israel is committed to peace, and 39 percent said they do not think the government is committed to an agreement. In June that number was 46 percent saying Israel was committed to peace, and 39 percent saying it was not.

In other survey findings, a majority of Americans disagree with Palestinian leaders' position not to start negotiations until Israel halts all construction on settlements. (ANI)