Barry Rubin observes that American support for Israel is headed in a positive direction. Now for those who have an opinion the ratio of those who favor Israel over the Palestinians is now
Wait a minute, though. Pew says regarding the overall figure (51-12), “These numbers have changed little in recent years.†But that’s just flat wrong.
In fact, in 1990 the figures were 34 percent support for Israel and 13 percent for the Palestinians. So here’s the incredible story that Pew not only left out but denied:
Since 1990 backing for the Palestinians has remained the same low number, while sympathy for Israel has gone up from 34 to 51, a rise of 50 percent!
This is extraordinary.
The Jewish Virtual Library has been Gallup’s polling on Israel for quite a while. And Pew, in this release from 2006, shows its polls over a number of years. Both pollsters show a ratio that recently ranges between 3 and 4 to 1, favoring Israel. (Pew framed its results that Americans are out of touch with the rest of the world.) Note that Pew and Gallup have slightly different numbers and that Gallup’s numbers are more variable.
What would account for the recent surge in pro-Israel opinion? Prof Rubin answers:
Presumably, the public understands that Israel tried sincerely to make peace and was turned down by the other side; that radical Arab nationalism and militant Islamism hate America for lots more reasons than its support of Israel; an understanding about the origins of terrorism; a grasp of the threat from Iran (quite visible in other parts of the poll); and many other factors. In short, it is a victory for common sense.
It’s worth observing two things here.
1) Given that being pro-Israel is an American position – not specifically a Jewish one – it explains why J-Street insists on calling itself pro-Israel despite consistently taking anti-Israel positions: if it claimed to be anti-Israel, it would have an even smaller constituency than it has now. J-Street’s claims that it represents a significant portion of American public opinion is dubious.
2) Those who insist that America’s generally pro-Israel foreign policy is distorted by Jewish influence (h/t Omri on Twitter), are mistaken. America’s pro-Israel sentiment is not exclusively Jewish. It represents a wide consensus in America, except among self-identifying liberals.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
It’s belaboring the obvious to state that you would not get such percentages in Europe; you might get the opposite. Yet another reason to decry Obama’s assertion that the United States is not exceptional other than in the way every country thinks it’s exceptional.
There is such a thing as American exceptionalism and in this, as in other matters, thank goodness.