The good news: The Lebanese are willing to consider Israel's right to exist

A couple of days ago, I promised to write some more about the Pew Global Attitudes Project. So here are some highlights I picked from this survey:

1.

The bad news: "The U.S. continues to be widely unpopular in the Middle East. More than three in four Palestinians, Turks, Egyptians, and Jordanians express unfavorable opinions of the U.S. In fact, the United States receives a lower favorable rating (9%) in Turkey ? a NATO ally ? than in any country surveyed."

The good news: "One country in the region where attitudes toward the U.S. have actually improved is Lebanon."

Possible explanation: When the U.S. works for someone, it shows in the polls. Another possible explanation: Lebanon has more Christians than other Middle East countries ("most of the improvement in America's image over the last few years has taken place in the Christian community").

More on public opinion in Lebanon here. Interestingly, "The Lebanese are significantly more likely to express a favorable view of Americans (69%) than of the U.S. (47%), as are Kuwaitis (Americans ? 62% favorable; U.S. ? 46% favorable), and Jordanians (Americans ? 36% favorable; U.S. ? 20% favorable)."

2.

"America's closest ally in the region, Israel, continues to have overwhelmingly favorable views of the U.S. Nearly eight in ten Israelis (78%) give the U.S. a positive rating, which is the same percentage expressing a positive view in 2003."

You can see the same trend in this Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. 85% of Israelis approve of the U.S., 72% approve of President Bush. By the way, those who don't are mostly Israeli Arabs.

3.

While America's image has not returned to pre-Iraq war levels in most Muslim countries, "it has actually risen among Muslims in several countries since its 2003 nadir - rising 19 percentage points in Jordan, 18 points in Lebanon, 13 points in the Palestinian territories, and 11 points in Nigeria."

And more good news: Muslim respondents from different regions don't always respond in the same way. "African Muslims tend to express more positive views, particularly in Mali and Senegal. In Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Tanzania, Muslims are roughly divided between those with a favorable and an unfavorable view of the U.S."

4.

Middle Easterners (but not Israelis) overwhelmingly believe the U.S. ignores their interests. That's no big surprise, except that even "in Kuwait, which was liberated by American forces in the first Iraq war in 1991, 64% now say the U.S. pays little or no attention to the interests of countries like theirs, compared with 35% in 2003."

5.

The Pew poll suggests that even "in Israel, a slim 42% plurality says America is too supportive of their country, while 13% say the U.S. favors the Palestinians too much."

My guess: Israelis meant America is "more supportive" not "too supportive" (I couldn't find the way this question was presented).

6.

Two problems dominate concerns across the Middle East: spread of nuclear weapons, and religious and ethnic hatred. In Israel, "66% cite the spread of nuclear weapons as the top world threat - more than any other country surveyed except Japan." And while we are on this topic: "Most of the Muslim countries surveyed have negative or mixed opinions of Iran".

In Jordan and Egypt, where the public was divided on this question on nuclear Iran just a year ago, "there is now clear opposition to Iran acquiring nuclear weapons."

Just in three Muslim populations, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Palestinian territories ? majorities say "they favor Iran acquiring nuclear weapons."

Not surprisingly, "only the Palestinians register a positive view of Iran. A clear majority in the Palestinian territories (55%) say they have a favorable opinion of that country. By contrast, majorities in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey hold negative opinions about Iran; Egyptians are split, with 48% saying their opinion of Iran is favorable and half expressing an unfavorable view."

7.

Worst news in this survey from an Israeli standpoint: More than seven out of ten Egyptians, Jordanians, Palestinians, and Kuwaitis believe that, "the rights and needs of the Palestinian people cannot be taken care of as long as the State of Israel exists."

Lebanese opinion is divided on this issue (Christians and Sunnis are willing to accept Israel, Shiites are not). By the way, "61% of Israelis say a way can be found for Israel to exist so that the rights and needs of the Palestinians are addressed."