Bad news 1: Support for Palestinians is at an all-time low
Bad news 2: My fellow Southerners remain the biggest Israel-boosters. The Israel-Christian Right alliance lives on ...
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Sympathy Slips An ABCNEWS.com Poll Finds Less Support for Israel, Palestinians
Analysis by Dalia Sussman
N E W Y O R K, April 8 - Public sympathy for Israel has fallen while the number of Americans who sympathize with neither side in the Mideast conflict has spiked - an apparent expression of public frustration with the ongoing conflict.
Forty-one percent of Americans now say their sympathies lie more with Israel, down 11 points in the last six months and down from a peak of 69 percent in a similar question in 1989, during violent unrest in the West Bank and Gaza.
Sampling, data collection and tabulation for this poll were done by TNS Intersearch. Far fewer Americans - 9 percent - sympathize more with the Palestinian Authority, down from 14 percent in October. What's risen is the number who volunteer that they don't sympathize with either side, 26 percent, or have no opinion, 16 percent more.
Who Is to Blame?
In another question, Israel gets substantially less blame for the violence than it received a decade ago - but blame for the Palestinians also is down, albeit less sharply.
Again, what has increased is the number of Americans who blame both sides equally - 8 percent in 1989, but 24 percent today - or who have no opinion.
Americans Support Saudi Plan
Public opinion concerning the Saudi Arabian peace proposal is virtually unchanged since last month. Fifty-three percent support the plan, which calls for Israel's withdrawal from territories it occupied in 1967 in exchange for Arab recognition of its right to exist; 22 percent oppose it and about a quarter have no opinion.
Twenty-eight percent of Americans not only support the plan, but also say the United States should pressure Israel to accept it if Israel resists. Twenty-one percent say the United States should not pressure Israel to accept the offer.
GOP Supports Israel Most
Sympathy for Israel peaks among Republicans at 64 percent, compared to 38 percent of Democrats and 32 percent of independents. Democrats and independents are far more likely to volunteer that they don't sympathize with either side.
And 50 percent of Southerners say their sympathies lie more with Israel, 11 to 16 points higher than in the rest of the country.
Republicans (59 percent) and Southerners (49 percent) are also more likely to blame the Palestinians for the violence.
Methodology
This ABCNEWS.com survey was conducted by telephone April 3-7, among a random national sample of 1,027 adults. The results have a three-point error margin. Sampling, data collection and tabulation was conducted by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Pa.
Previous ABCNEWS polls can be found in our PollVault.