A survey of American public opinion released today by Elmo Roper and Associates has revealed that “the State of Israel does not lack American friends.” The survey demonstrated that “dramatic events of the past year–including armed invasion of Egypt by the Israeli Army–have not lost Israel the sympathetic understanding of a majority of the American people.”
The survey exposed the fact that anti-Israel sentiment is more intense on the East Coast than in the Far West. However, only five percent of persons polled throughout the nation said they had a low opinion of Israel while another 14 percent said that while they could understand Israel’s difficult position in general they did not think well of her.
A national total of 11 percent expressed a high opinion of Israel. But the significant bulk of the cross country study–44 percent–said that although Israel had done some things disapproved in general she is thought well of. Only 26 percent said they did not know how they felt toward Israel. Compared with opinions expressed about England and Egypt, Israel fared very well.
It was found that rural areas are friendlier to Israel than big cities. In the nation’s great metropolitan centers, the pro-Israel feeling runs only two and one-half to one favorable; in rural areas it runs more than three to one. The pollsters considered this some what surprising. These urban-rural contrasts were said to help explain why it is the West and not the cosmopolitan East that takes the friendliest view of Israel.
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