GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- Despite the substantial involvement of the Clinton administration in brokering peace accords between the Israelis and Palestinians last year, Americans are inclined to leave the peace process to the parties directly involved. The agreement between the two groups is known as the Wye River peace accords, and -- among other things -- it calls for greater autonomy of the Palestinians. However, the terms of the agreement have not yet been carried out, and in the meantime an election in Israel earlier this year has produced a new prime minister, Ehud Barak. While Barak has expressed determination to achieve peace, some observers have argued that the United States should take a more active role in pressuring the Israelis and Palestinians to implement the agreement they signed last year. But according to the latest Gallup poll, conducted July 22-25, Americans disagree by a two-to-one majority: just 31% say the U.S. should pressure the two parties, while 66% say the U.S. should let the Israelis and Arabs settle the peace process on their own.
Americans seem somewhat more optimistic than they have been in the past that eventually Israel and the Arab nations will be able to settle their differences and live in peace. The latest poll shows about an even split, with 49% saying peace will eventually come and 47% saying it will not. But this response is more positive than the one given by Americans in a Gallup poll last December, when only 40% said they expected peace would someday be achieved, and 56% said it would not.
Although Americans may not want the U.S. to pressure the parties involved, an overwhelming majority -- 81% -- still believe that achieving a peaceful solution to the conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis should be an important foreign policy goal of the United States. Forty-one percent say it should be a "very" important goal, and another 41% say it should be a "somewhat" important goal. Just 15% say that achieving peace between the Israelis and Palestinians is "not too" or "not at all" important. By comparison, 82% of Americans also believe that achieving peace in Kosovo should be an important foreign policy goal of the U.S., while 69% say that about the conflict in Northern Ireland.
However important the goal of achieving peace in the Middle East might be, about four in ten Americans seem inclined to reduce the amount of aid the U.S. currently gives to Israel, whether intended for economic or military purposes. (One in ten think U.S. aid to Israel should be increased, while another four in ten say it should remain the same.)
These views on aid do not suggest that Americans are becoming less pro-Israel than they have been over the past decade. By a margin of 43% to 12%, Americans say their sympathies are with the Israelis rather than the Palestinian Arabs, a ratio that has generally been reflected in the Gallup polls conducted over the past 11 years. The widest margin occurred in February, 1991, during the Gulf War, when 64% expressed their sympathies for the Israelis and just 7% for the Palestinian Arabs, but by the end of 1993, the margin was 42% to 15% -- about what it is now. The last previous reading, in December, 1998, showed a similar margin of 46% to 13%.
Most Americans Unfamiliar With New Prime Minister of
Israel
Typically, foreign policy matters are not of great interest to most
Americans, and the recent election of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Barak is no exception. About six in ten Americans are not familiar
enough with the new prime minister to be able to say they have
either a favorable or unfavorable impression of him -- about half
of those because they have never heard of him, and the other half
because they have not heard enough to form an opinion. Among the
rest, Barak's rating is about two-to-one positive, with 26% saying
they have a favorable opinion of him and 12% unfavorable. The
rating of the former prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu,
was also about two-to-one positive, when it was last measured this
past May. However, more people were able to make a rating, as 39%
said they had a favorable opinion of him and 20% an unfavorable
opinion.
Survey Methods
The results below are based on telephone interviews with a randomly
selected national sample of 1,021 adults, 18 years and older,
conducted July 22-25, 1999. For results based on this sample, one
can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error
attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus
3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question
wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can
introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion
polls.
As you may know, last year President Clinton helped to negotiate a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinian Arabs, known as the Wye River peace accords. The terms of that agreement have yet to be implemented because of disagreements on both sides. Do you think -- [READ 1-2/2-1: 1) The United States should put pressure on Israel and the Arabs to implement the terms of that peace agreement (or do you think) 2) The United States should leave it up to Israel and the Arabs to settle the peace process on their own (or do you think)]?
| The United States should put pressure on Israel and the Arabs to implement the terms of that peace agreement (or do you think) | 31% |
| The United States should leave it up to Israel and the Arabs to settle the peace process on their own (or do you think) | 66 |
| No opinion | 3 |
| 100% |
As far as you are concerned, should the development of a peaceful solution to [INSERT ITEM, ROTATE START] be a very important foreign policy goal of the United States, a somewhat important goal, not too important, or not an important goal at all? Next, how about a peaceful solution to [INSERT NEXT ITEM]?
| Very important | Somewhat important | Not too important | Not important | No opinion | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a. The Palestinian/Israeli situation in the Middle East | |||||
| 99 Jul 22-25 | 41% | 41% | 9% | 6% | 3% |
| b. The situation in Kosovo | |||||
| 99 Jul 22-25 | 44 | 38 | 9 | 6 | 3 |
| c. The situation in Northern Ireland | |||||
| 99 Jul 22-25 | 23 | 46 | 16 | 8 | 7 |
In the Middle East situation, are your sympathies with the Israelis or more with the Palestinian Arabs?
| Israelis | Palestinians | BOTH/ NEITHER (vol.) |
No opinion | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 99 Jul 22-25 | 43% | 12% | 11/19% | 15% |
| 98 Dec 4-6 | 46 | 13 | 5/22 | 14 |
| 97 Aug 12-13 | 38 | 8 | 5/19 | 30 |
| 96 Nov 21-24 | 38 | 15 | 6/14 | 27 |
| 93 Sep 10-12 | 42 | 15 | 6/17 | 20 |
| 91 Feb | 64 | 7 | 19 | 10 |
| 89 Aug | 50 | 14 | 15 | 21 |
| 88 May 13-15 | 37 | 15 | 22 | 27 |
Do you think there will or will not come a time when Israel and the Arab nations will be able to settle their differences and live in peace?
| Yes, will be a time | No, will not | No opinion | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99 Jul 22-25 | 49% | 47% | 4% |
| 98 Dec 4-6 | 40 | 56 | 4 |
| 97 Aug 12-13 | 36 | 56 | 8 |
Thinking about the financial aid the United States provides Israel for economic purposes, do you think U.S. economic aid to Israel should be -- [READ 1-3/3-1: 1) Increased (or) 2) Kept the same (or) Decreased (or)]?
| Increased | 8% |
| Kept the same, or | 45 |
| Decreased | 41 |
| ELIMINATED (vol.) | 1 |
| No opinion | 5 |
| 100% |
Thinking about the financial aid the United States provides Israel for military purposes, do you think U.S. military aid to Israel should be -- [READ 1-3/3-1: 1) Increased (or) 2) Kept the same (or) Decreased (or)]?
| Increased | 10% |
| Kept the same, or | 42 |
| Decreased | 44 |
| ELIMINATED (vol.) | * |
| No opinion | 4 |
| 100% |
(vol.) volunteered response
* less than 0.5%
