A survey of public opinion in the United States released yesterday finds that while there has not been “any substantial damage” to the support of Israel by Americans as a result of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, there has been “a modest increase in sympathy” for the Arabs and in particular for the Palestinians. At the same time, the study finds that Americans view Premier Menachem Begin much more unfavorably than they do Israel.
The study, “American Public Opinion and U.S. Foreign Policy 1983,” was conducted by the Gallup organization for the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations between October 29 and November 6, 1982. It is summarized in the spring issue of the quarterly. Foreign Policy, by John Reilly, president of the Chicago Council.
At a breakfast meeting with reporters yesterday Reilly said he was “surprised” that the report showed no “erosion of support” for Israel since the study was made just after Israel’s invasion of Lebanon and after the massacre at the Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut. But he said in all areas of U.S. foreign policy, the survey found Americans want a “continuation” of past policy.
The survey is based on a nationwide sample of 1,547 adults plus personal and telephone interviews with 341 prominent persons from government; international business, labor, academia, religious institutions, private foreign policy organizations and special interest groups.
FINDINGS OF THE POLL
When the poll asked the question about “Israel’s recent actions in Lebanon,” 55 percent of the public responded that they disapproved while 21 percent approved. Among the leadership group, 68 percent disapproved, and 27 percent approved.
The survey showed that 48 percent of the public approved of President Reagan’s peace initiative while 21 percent did not. Among the public, 17 percent believe aid to Israel should be decreased and 16 percent want it stopped altogether. Among the leaders, 25 percent want to decrease or stop aid.
Forty eight percent of the public said they sympathize more with Israel than they do with the Arabs while 17 percent said they sympathize more with the Arabs. Reilly, in the Council report, noted that various Gallup polls showed sympathy for Israel to drop after the Lebanese invasion in June to an all time low of 32 percent in September. But by the time the Council survey was taken, it was back to where it had been before the operation in Lebanon.
Reilly also noted that while sympathy for Arabs rose to 28 percent last September, by the time the Council survey was taken in November, it was taken to 17 percent, which was still higher than the 10-14 percent it had been before last June.
However, “while the public sympathized with Israel over the Arabs by 48 percent to 17 percent, they supported Israel over the Palestinians by a lesser margin, 40 percent to 17 percent,” the Council report said. “Opinion leaders were even more sensitive to the difference in terminology. Their support for Israel over the Arabs (51-19 percent) dropped to 42-26 for Israel over the Palestinians.”
The survey also asked the public respondents to give a thermometer rating of how they felt about various countries, with 50 degrees being neutral and anything above being warm and below cool. Israel was rated at 55 degrees, the same as Italy. It had been rated 61 degrees when the Council took its last survey in 1978.
The countries rated above Israel were West Germany 59 degrees; Mexico and France, 60; Great Britain, 68; and Canada, 74. Among the Arab countries, Egypt and Saudi Arabia were rated at 52 degrees; Jordan at 47; and Syria at 42.
POLITICAL LEADERS RATED
When the question was asked about political leaders. Begin was rated at an unfavorable 45 degrees; 12 degrees below the favorable rating he received in 1978. But he was above former President Nixon, 38 degrees; the late Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, 31; PLO leader Yasir Arafat, 28; and the Ayatollah Khomeini, II.
Those rated above Begin were Pope John Paul II, 70 degrees; British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, 61; Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Secretary of State George Shultz both 55; President Reagan, former President Carter, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and UN Ambassador Jeane Kirk-patrick, all at 45; Senator Edward Kennedy (D. Mass.) and French President Francois Mitterrand, 49.
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