A pro-Israel advocacy group is testing for reactions to a potential Israeli strike on Iran. The Israel Project recently tested three questions with a focus group of Americans, the liberal investigative journal Mother Jones reported Tuesday. The questions, recalled by a focus group participant, were: “How would you feel if Hillary [Clinton] bombed Iran? How would you feel if George Bush bombed Iran? And how would you feel if Israel bombed Iran?” Martin Focus Groups in Alexandria, Va., polled at least two such groups, the magazine reported.
Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, the Israel Project’s founder, confirmed the polling to JTA. She said its thrust was to test reactions to economic sanctions to isolate the Islamic republic until it ends its suspected nuclear weapons program. “We’re trying to push to see how we can get more people engaged in diplomacy,” Mizrahi said. An earlier Mother Jones report, picked up by JTA, mistakenly said that FreedomsWatch, a group established over the summer to promote support for President Bush’s Iraq war policy, was responsible for the polling. Mizrahi confirmed that FreedomsWatch materials were distributed at the session and that the Israel Project shared information with the group, but noted that the Israel Project has a similar relationship with a number of partisan and non-partisan groups that share concerns about Iran.
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