Brit Tzedek v’Shalom

Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace

The Israel Project

May 18, 2006

• 80 percent agree that U.S. should not fund Palestinian Authority until Hamas-led government renounces violence, recognizes Israel and ends terrorism


• 94 percent agree Palestinian leaders must disarm terrorists


• 93 percent agree Palestinian leaders must end culture of hate that encourages children to become suicide bombers


• 78 percent have favorable view of Israeli Prime Minister's new plan for a realignment for peace

Washington, D.C. — A major national bipartisan poll (Word document, Powerpoint) commissioned by The Israel Project shows that U.S. support for Israel remains strong and that there is significant concern among Americans regarding Hamas, the newly elected leadership of the Palestinians. Of the 500 'opinion elites' polled, 77 percent said they have a cold or unfavorable view of Hamas and only 4 percent had a warm or positive feeling towards Hamas.

Those who participated in the poll were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with several statements. One of them was, "The United States should continue to freeze any aid payments to the Palestinian Authority until its new Hamas-led government renounces violence, recognizes Israel and ends terrorism," to which four out of five people (80 percent) agreed, including 60 percent who strongly agreed.

Additionally, 93 percent of the American opinion elites agree with the statement, "The Palestinian leaders must end their culture of hate that encourages children to become suicide bombers." Another 94 percent agreed with the statement, "The Palestinian leaders must disarm Palestinian terrorists."

Of those polled, 88 percent said they remembered hearing about the recent Palestinian elections in which Hamas won control of the Palestinian government. When asked, "Which statement regarding Hamas do you believe is more accurate," 60 percent chose "Hamas is a terrorist organization that has no interest in peace with Israel" and 27 percent chose "Hamas is a legitimate elected political organization that represents the interests of the Palestinians."

When asked if they considered themselves supporters of Israel or supporters of the Palestinians, 58 percent said they backed Israel while 10 percent said they supported the Palestinians. Another 33 percent said they supported neither one, were undecided or didn't know.

The participants were also asked, "In the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, do you think the United States should take Israel's side or the Palestinians' side," 48 percent responded "Israel's side," while 7 percent said "the Palestinian's side." This showed a major surge in support for Israel, with most of the new backing coming from Democrats who previously had been less supportive of Israel than Republicans. The poll showed that members of both parties are very supportive of Israel.

When asked, "Which side's actions are doing more to advance the peace process in the Middle East? The Israelis or the Palestinians?" 65 percent answered "the Israelis" and 7 percent "the Palestinians."

A majority of the respondents (94 percent) said they remembered seeing, reading or hearing about Israel's voluntary disengagement policy, which resulted in the relocation of 9,000 Israelis from the Gaza Strip and turning control of the area to the Palestinians. Israel's actions made 67 percent of those polled more supportive of Israel, while 4 percent said the actions made them less supportive of Israel. Most of the remainder - 28 percent - said the disengagement didn't make any difference to them.

The poll also examined a major new concept - realignment for peace - brought forward by newly elected leader Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The poll asked "Now, during his recent successful campaign, Israel's new Prime Minister Ehud Olmert put forth a new plan. Under this plan, if the Hamas-led Palestinian government refuses to recognize Israel and end terrorism within the next year, Israel will take steps unilaterally to secure its own border. The plan calls for Israel to withdraw from significant parts of the West Bank by relocating 90,000 Israeli settlers to safer areas behind the security fence. Under this plan, Israel will retain control of Jerusalem and will keep its largest settlements that were previously in Palestinian territory. No Palestinians will have to be relocated under this plan."

Among the respondents, 78 percent had a very or somewhat favorable impression of the plan and 18 percent had a somewhat or very unfavorable reaction. Another 70 percent agreed with the statement, "This proposed plan once again demonstrates the painful sacrifices that Israel is willing to make toward peace with the Palestinians." Since the poll was conducted, however, a more detailed analysis of the plan now shows that more than 70,000 Israelis will be relocated.

During his trip to the United States next week, the prime minister is scheduled to meet with President Bush and address a joint session of Congress.

On the topic of establishing an independent Palestinian state, 82 percent of those polled said they supported doing so, while 13 percent opposed it. Another 60 percent said that there must first be an end to Palestinian terrorism against Israel.

For the survey, opinion elites are defined as people with a college degree or higher, have an annual household income of $75,000 or more, said they are likely or very likely to vote and reported doing at least two of the following regularly: read a major newspaper; watch the national news; or read major news magazines. The telephone poll was conducted May 7 to13 by Neil Newhouse of Public Opinion Strategies as part of a bipartisan project that includes Stan Greenberg of Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Research Inc. The margin of error is +/- 4.38 percent.