Europeans learned to loooove Israel, sort of

Europeans learned to loooove Israel, sort of

June 14, 2006
The new Pew Global Attitudes Project offers an interesting reading for both Americans and Israelis. "In past Global Attitudes surveys, the American public's strong pro-Israel stance set it apart from other countries. But that has changed as Germans, in particular, have become much more sympathetic to Israel in its dispute with the Palestinians," the authors state. A similar poll conducted for The Israel Project by pollster Stan Greenberg a couple of weeks ago found similar trends: "In comparison with similar research conducted at the end of 2002, French attitudes have undergone profound changes. Three years ago, nearly half (47 percent) of the French respondents sided with the Palestinians in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The current poll shows support for the Palestinians has dropped by over half, to 21 percent, among those who did express a preference."

In the new Pew study the French also have become more sympathetic to Israel. "Four years ago, French respondents sympathized with the Palestinians over Israel by roughly two-to-one (36% to 19%). Today, identical percentages sympathize with each side in the Israel-Palestinian dispute." Greenberg, says TIP, "believes the change was caused by a paradigm shift of the frame through which the French view the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

In regard to the newly elected Hamas government "Fully 71% of Germans and 69% of the French feel the Hamas triumph will be bad for the Palestinian people, among those who are aware of the issue." In the U.S its 50%, "although just 20% think the Hamas triumph will be a good thing for the Palestinians." The British are divided in relation to Hamas: "34% say it will be bad, while 32% take a positive view." By contrast, "large majorities in Pakistan (87%), Egypt (76%), Jordan (68%), and Indonesia (61%) feel that the Hamas Party victory will be good for the Palestinian people."

But the situation in the Israeli-Palestinian arena still worries the world and the conflict is still perceived as a threat to global peace. Generally speaking, opinions about threats to global peace "reflect regional concerns." The study finds that "While solid majorities in Jordan and Egypt see America's presence in Iraq as a great danger, even higher percentages in these countries view the Israel-Palestinian conflict as a great danger to regional stability and world peace."

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