Americans Still Favor Israelis, but Want United States to Remain Neutral

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- As President George W. Bush reverses policy and now commits the United States to an active role in trying to bring about peace in the Middle East, a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows that most Americans want the United States to refrain from taking either the Israeli or Palestinian side. At the same time, Americans' sympathies are more with the Israelis than with the Palestinians -- a pattern that has persisted since Gallup began measuring these sentiments over a dozen years ago. Americans are more likely to say that the Israelis rather than the Palestinians have been justified in their actions over the past few days, and that the Palestinians rather than the Israelis have engaged in acts of terrorism. Still, about four in 10 Americans express views that are critical of the Israeli actions, and large majorities want both the Israelis and the Palestinians to stop their violence against each other, regardless of what the other side does.

The poll was conducted April 5-7 and shows that 71% of Americans say the United States should take neither the Israeli nor the Palestinian side in the Middle East conflict. Among those who say the United States should take a side, more Americans favor Israel (22%) than the Palestinians (2%).

Middle East Conflict: Should the United States Take Sides?

There has been little change in these sentiments since they were first measured in 1988. Immediately after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, there was a slight drop in the percentage saying the United States should remain neutral, but even then, more than six in 10 (63%) took that position.

Americans' Sympathies Lean Toward Israel

Although most Americans want their government to refrain from taking a side in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, about half say their own sympathies are with the Israelis, while just 15% favor the Palestinians.

Middle East Sympathies Trend

While the percentage of Americans who favor the Israelis has varied considerably, from a low of 37% to a high of 64%, the percentage favoring the Palestinians has varied within a fairly narrow range: from 7% to 16%. During the Gulf War, in February 1991, the ratio in favor of the Israelis was the highest recorded by Gallup, 64% to 7%. The second highest ratio was recorded just days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when Americans favored the Israelis over the Palestinian Arabs by 55% to 7%.

There are other indications that Americans lean toward Israelis in their conflict with the Palestinians.

• By 49% to 41%, Americans say Israeli actions against the Palestinians are justified.
• Only 22% of Americans say Palestinian actions against the Israelis are justified, while 66% say they are not justified.

Are Israeli/Palestinian Actions Justified?

April 5-7, 2002

Similarly, Americans are more likely to say that Israeli actions in the past several days have been legitimate acts of war, but are more likely to characterize Palestinian actions as acts of terrorism.

• By 70% to 24%, Americans say that the recent violence committed by the Palestinians against the Israelis can be described as acts of terrorism rather than legitimate acts of war.
• In contrast, by 53% to 39%, Americans say that Israeli violence against the Palestinians can be described as legitimate acts of war, rather than acts of terrorism.

Are Israeli/Palestinian Actions Terrorism or War?

April 5-7, 2002

Despite Leaning Toward Israel, Many Americans Critical

While these results show that Americans are more likely to favor the Israelis than the Palestinians, they also reflect the fact that a large number of Americans -- about four in 10 -- are critical of the Israelis. As shown earlier, 41% say the Israeli actions over the past few days are mostly unjustified. Furthermore, 39% of Americans describe those actions as acts of terrorism.

The poll also shows large majorities of Americans want the Israelis and the Palestinians to stop their violence, regardless of what the other side does.

Should Israelis/Palestinians Stop Their Violence?

April 5-7, 2002

The chart shows that Americans are more likely to say that Palestinians should stop the violence than they are to say that Israelis should stop. Nevertheless, by a large margin (60% to 34%), Americans want even the Israelis to stop the violence, regardless of what the Palestinians do.

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,009 national adults, aged 18+, conducted April 5-7, 2002. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

In the Middle East situation, are your sympathies more with the Israelis or more with the Palestinian Arabs?

		Israelis	Palestinian Arabs	Both (vol.)	Neither (vol.)	No opinion
		%	%	%	%	%
2002 Apr 5-7		50	15	9	17	9
2002 Mar 8-9		43	14	6	20	17
2002 Feb 4-6		55	14	6	14	11
2001 Dec 14-16		51	14	5	17	13
2001 Sep 14-15		55	7	4	20	14
2001 Aug 10-12		41	13	7	18	21
2001 Feb 1-4		51	16	7	14	12
2000 Oct 13-14 ^		41	11	9	18	21
2000 Jul 6-9		41	14	5	18	22
2000 Jan 25-26		43	13	5	21	18
1999 Jul 22-25		43	12	11	19	15
1998 Dec 4-6		46	13	5	22	14
1997 Aug 12-13		38	8	5	19	30
1996 Nov 21-24		38	15	6	14	27
1993 Sep 10-12		42	15	6	17	20
1991 Feb		64	7	19	--	10
1989 Aug		50	14	15	--	21
1988 May 13-15		37	15	22	--	27
(vol.)	Volunteered response
^	Based on interviews with 821 national adults; +/- 4 pct. pts.

In the Middle East conflict, do you think the United States should take Israel's side, take the Palestinian's side, or not take either side?

		Israel''s side	Palestinian''s side	Not take either	No opinion
		%	%	%	%
2002 Apr 5-7		22	2	71	5
2001 Sep 14-15		27	1	63	9
2000 Jul 6-9 ^		16	1	74	9
2000 Jan 25-26		15	1	72	12
1998 Dec 4-6		17	2	73	7
1998 May 8-10		15	2	74	9
^	Asked of a half sample.

Do you think the Israelis should -- or should not -- stop their violence against the Palestinians, regardless of what the Palestinians do?

	Yes, should	No, should not	No opinion
2002 Apr 5-7	60%	34%	6%

Do you think the Palestinians should -- or should not -- stop their violence against the Israelis, regardless of what the Israelis do?

	Yes, should	No, should not	No opinion
2002 Apr 5-7	74%	19%	7%

Do you think the Israeli actions in the current conflict with the Palestinians over the past few days have been -- [ROTATED: mostly justified (or) mostly unjustified]?

BASED ON --489-- NATIONAL ADULTS IN FORM A; ±5 PCT. PTS.

		Mostly justified	Mostly unjustified	No opinion
		%	%	%
2002 Apr 5-7		49	41	10
2002 Apr 3 ^		44	34	22
^	Polls conducted entirely in one day, such as this one, are subject to additional error or bias not found in polls conducted over several days.

Do you think the Palestinian actions in the current conflict with Israel over the past few days have been --[ROTATED: mostly justified (or) mostly unjustified]?

BASED ON --489-- NATIONAL ADULTS IN FORM A; ±5 PCT. PTS.

		Mostly justified	Mostly unjustified	No opinion
		%	%	%
2002 Apr 5-7		22	66	12
2002 Apr 3 ^		17	62	21
^	Polls conducted entirely in one day, such as this one, are subject to additional error or bias not found in polls conducted over several days.

How would you describe the recent violence committed by the Palestinians against the Israelis -- [ROTATED: as acts of terrorism (or) as legitimate acts of war against their opponents]?

BASED ON --520-- NATIONAL ADULTS IN FORM B; ±4 PCT. PTS.

	Acts of terrorism	Acts of war	No opinion
2002 Apr 5-7	70%	24%	6%

How would you describe the recent violence committed by the Israelis against the Palestinians -- [ROTATED: as acts of terrorism (or) as legitimate acts of war against their opponents]?

BASED ON --520-- NATIONAL ADULTS IN FORM B; ±5 PCT. PTS.

	Acts of terrorism	Acts of war	No opinion
2002 Apr 5-7	39%	53%	8%