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Nearly Two-Thirds of Americans Are Pro-Israel

Figure much higher than at the height of Oslo Accords

by
Marc Tracy
February 25, 2010
Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shake hands on the White House lawn.(Reuters)
Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shake hands on the White House lawn.(Reuters)

Despite President Barack Obama’s tougher line on Israel, particularly regarding West Bank settlements, support for the Jewish state among the U.S. population has rarely been as high as it is now. Gallup found that 63 percent of Americans favor Israel more than the Palestinians. That figure has not been that high since Saddam Hussein attacked Israel in 1991; in the late ‘90s, it dipped below 40 percent.

Sixty-seven percent of Americans are very skeptical that Israel will ever be at peace with its Arab neighbors (or with all of them, anyway), which means a sizable chunk both supports Israel over the Palestinians and thinks Israel will never be at peace.

I’m not sure how much sense that makes. An Israel at peace with its neighbors requires some sort of equitable resolution for the Palestinians. You can think that the lack of peace, and the absence of a Palestinian solution, is overwhelmingly not Israel’s fault, and yet still believe there are better policies Israel could adopt in order to increase the likelihood of peace. Maybe the more useful question is not whom you support between the two sides, but whether you are satisfied with the overall direction.

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.