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Poll: Huge Surge in Support for Israel Among American Voters
Washington - The Israel Project (TIP) today released a poll of American voters which shows growing support for Israel and an overwhelming feeling that Hamas and Hezbollah have gone too far.Support for Israel in the conflict with the Palestinians has reached an overwhelmingly high 60 percent, while support for the Palestinians is at only 7 percent. A similar poll of likely voters conducted on behalf of TIP in January of this year, before the election of Hamas, found support for Israel at 45 percent and the Palestinians at 7 percent. On the question of what is happening currently in the Middle East, Americans are following the situation closely and overwhelmingly believe Hamas and Hezbollah are going too far. When asked if Hezbollah is acting properly or going too far, the survey shows that by a margin of 68 percent to 7 percent, voters believe it is going too far. When the same question was asked about Hamas, the response was virtually the same, 66 percent say Hamas is going too far and 9 percent say it is acting properly. "Americans clearly understand that in both the case of Hamas and Hezbollah, Israeli soldiers were killed and kidnapped. In both cases, rockets have been fired into Israel and Israel is responding in a way that it hopes will reduce the future threat. In both cases, American voters clearly believe that Hezbollah and Hamas have gone too far," said Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, founder and president of TIP. In both instances, voters believe that Israel's response is justified by more than a two to one ratio. When asked if Israel is justified in what it is doing to Hezbollah in Lebanon, 59 percent believe it is justified and 20 percent say it is unjustified. In the situation in Gaza with Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, 56 percent believe Israel's actions are justified, while 24 percent believe its actions are unjustified. Voters were asked separately, in an open-ended response (where they supply the answer and multiple answers were allowed), who are the main providers of support for Hezbollah and Hamas. In the case of Hezbollah, 38 percent named Iran and 36 percent named Syria. In the case of Hamas, 38 percent said Iran and 32 percent said Syria. "Americans understand exactly what is happening here and who is behind it. Over 70 percent of Americans name Iran and Syria as the primary supports of groups they label as terror organizations," Mizrahi said. When asked if Hezbollah and Hamas are terror organizations or legitimate nationalist movements, Americans overwhelmingly believe they are terror organizations. In the case of Hezbollah, 60 percent believe it is a terrorist organization while 7 percent say it is a legitimate nationalist movement. In the case of Hamas, 54 percent believe it is a terrorist organization while 11 percent say it is a legitimate nationalist movement. Voters are following the issue closely with 29 percent responding that they are following it very closely, 41 percent following it fairly closely while 21 percent are following it not too closely and 8 percent not at all closely. The poll of 1,000 likely voters was conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research from July 16-18. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 percent. The January 10-12 poll was conducted by the firm Public Opinion Strategies among 800 likely voters. The margin of error was +/- 3.46 percent. Go to the link to read the questions and a breakdown of the responses. I think you'll be favourably impressed, especially if you've been frustrated by Zogby's polling techniques, and those sponsored by the Democratic Party. Posted by: trailing wife 2006-07-21 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=160332 |