Poll: U.S. voters in Israel prefer McCain

According to an exit poll released yesterday, American citizens who voted in the U.S. presidential elections via absentee ballots from Israel favored Sen. John McCain. Seventy-six percent of those polled by the Jerusalem-based firm Keevon said they voted for the Republican candidate, while 24 percent said they cast their ballots for Democratic candidate Barack Obama.

The poll was based on data from about 800 voters who attended three U.S. election events held in Israel - one in Tel Aviv and two in Jerusalem - and from among 1,700 citizens who registered online via VoteFromIsrael.org, a voter support group, which commissioned the poll.

Experts estimate that 45,000 of the more than 200,000 American citizens living in Israel requested absentee ballots. Seventy percent of those polled by Keevon defined themselves as either Orthodox or Ultra-Orthodox. Some 4 percent said they were not Jewish.

Pollster Mitchell Barak says most American immigrants in Israel are observant Jews, who tend to have conservative social views and hawkish attitudes toward the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

One American voter who attended one of the gatherings at which the voting took place cast doubts on the accuracy of the poll.

"It's not that all Americans in Israel are McCain supporters, just those that were at the event," she said. "The party was organized by McCain supporters, who brought their families and friends. Most Obama voters I know already sent in their ballot by mail and weren't at the party."