Survey finds nearly half of U.S. voters support total settlement building freeze

Almost half of all U.S. voters believe that Israel should be made to cease all settlement construction as part of a future peace deal with the Palestinians, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released yesterday.

The independent American polling company said a recent survey showed 49 percent of voters approved of forcing Israel to stop settlement construction, with only 22 percent saying Israel should not be required to stop building.

Twenty-nine percent were not sure.

U.S.-Israel ties have been strained of late, as a result of Israel's approval of 1,600 new East Jerusalem housing units, announced during an official visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden last week.

The Rasmussen poll also showed that 75 percent of U.S. voters said the Palestinians should be required to acknowledge Israel's right to exist as part of such an agreement, with only 6 percent disagreeing.

Seventy-three percent of voters said they thought it was unlikely that a lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace would be achieved within the decade.

When Obama challenged Israel's settlement policy in June, 48 percent of voters said his Middle Eastern policy was about right, according to the Rasmussen Web site. Thirty-five percent said he was not supportive enough of Israel.

In this week's poll, 58 percent of voters said Israel was an ally of the United States, with 2 percent viewing Israel as an enemy.