There has been no significant erosion of British public sympathy for Israel in the past the years, according to a report issued by the institute for Jewish Affairs. The analysis of 30 public opinion polis conducted since the Six-Day War was carried out following a claim that a recent poll had indicated strong sympathy for the Palestine Liberation Organization plan for a secular democratic Palestine state.
According to the IJA, support for Israel still remains five times greater than for the Arabs, although it was 11 times greater in May, 1967. Admitting a slight long-term drop in pro-Israel support and a slight increase in pro-Arab feelings, the report claims that “the most important fact is that after nine years of occupation, support for Israel is still 36 percent while Arab support is only 7 percent.” Arab support was highest–10 percent–under the pressure of the oil crisis in November, 1973.
Other findings were that men were more pro-Israel than women and that a pro-Israel feeling was more common among persons over 40 years of age than younger people; a trend towards increased sympathy with the Arabs was discerned as education advanced, but among the higher social groups sympathies were shifting in Israel’s favor at the Arabs’ expense in political terms; and liberals and conservatives tended to be most sympathetic to the Jewish state but labor supporters were not far behind.
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