Poll: Americans' Support for Israel Up Following Restart of Talks

Fifty-eight percent of U.S. citizens polled think America should back Israel – up 7 percent since July.

Sep 14, 2010

Support for Israel among Americans has jumped following the resumption of Middle East peace talks, according to poll findings released Tuesday.

A poll conducted for the Israel Project, a pro-Israel non-profit group based in the United States, showed a strong majority believing that the Israeli government is committed to making peace with the Palestinians.

Gordis asserts U.S. Jews are so repelled by particularism they've rejected Zionism. But 95 percent of US Jews hold favorable views of IsraelCredit: AP

Of 800 people questioned, 58 percent thought the U.S. should support Israel – a jump of 7 percent on a similar poll in July.

Seven percent thought the U.S. should support the Palestinians, while six percent said America should back neither side.

A majority of respondents (58 percent) also thought Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was committed to making peace, while 40 percent thought the same of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Support for Israel among Americans remains strong and steady, said pollster Neil Newhouse of Public Opinion Strategies.

The poll of 800 likely voters conducted between September 9 and September 12 by Public Opinion Strategies and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research found, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.