While Americans continue to maintain “a bedrock” of support toward Israel, there is nevertheless an increasing sympathy for the Palestinians, according to the heads of three national polling organizations.
The three organizations, which conducted surveys in recent months on American attitudes toward Israel in view of the Palestinian uprising, said here Wednesday that the American public would like to see the United States and the parties to the conflict open negotiations for a settlement.
The three pollsters spoke at a discussion panel sponsored by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
Representatives of the American Jewish Committee, the American Jewish Congress and the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, which commissioned the surveys, also participated in the discussion.
John Marttila, of the Boston public opinion firm Marttila and Kiley, who conducted a poll last April for the AJCongress, said that Israel’s relations with the United States are “strong and secure” and that Israel is considered by the American public as an ally.
Nevertheless, his survey found that higher educated and upper-income Americans are more critical of Israel’s policies, and, while sympathetic to Israel, they also favor a Palestinian homeland.
The AJCongress’ major finding was that despite the continued violence and clashes in the territories, American support for Israel has grown between Dec. 9, 1988, when the uprising began, and April.
Furthermore, it showed that Americans by a large margin are more sympathetic to Israel than to either the Palestinians or the Arab states.
Douglas Schoen, from Penn and Schoen Associates, which conducted a survey for the ADL last January, and David Singer, director of the AJCommittee’s Information and Research Services Department, who commissioned a poll from the Roper Organization last March, shared the view that basically the American public “as a group” supports Israel.
WELL EDUCATED ARE SYMPATHETIC
But Singer sharply disagreed with the contention that the more educated, or the American elite, tend to be less sympathetic to Israel.
The major finding of the AJCommittee poll was that American sympathy for Israel has declined since the beginning of the Palestinian uprising.
Schoen, whose poll for the ADL showed that there had been little erosion of support for Israel among Americans by the end of January, noted that while Israel is considered an ally, the Palestine Liberation Organization “has an extraordinary negative rating.”
According to Schoen, most Americans are against the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Robert Lifton, president of the AJCongress, suggested that Americans who support a Palestinian state are not necessarily against Israel.
Marc Tanenbaum, the AJCommitte’s director of international affairs, said that “against the background of all these surveys, it is virtually a miracle that there is still such strong support for Israel.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
