GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- As mounting violence between the Palestinians and Israelis dominates news headlines, a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll finds the American public decidedly pessimistic about the long-term chances of peace in the Middle East, and reluctant to see the United States take an active diplomatic role in trying to find a solution to the violence there. The poll also shows that Americans continue to be more likely to sympathize with the Israelis than with the Palestinian Arabs, though almost half express no preference for either side.
The poll was conducted Aug. 10-12 and finds that only about a third of Americans want the U.S. to take an active role in trying to find a diplomatic solution to the violence in the Middle East. The other two-thirds believe that the United States should encourage the Israelis and Palestinian Arabs to find a solution on their own, but that the United States should not take an active role in that process. There are no significant differences between Republicans and Democrats on this issue.
Which comes closer to your view about the situation in the Middle East between the Israelis and the Palestinian Arabs -- [ROTATED: the United States should take an active role in attempting to find a diplomatic solution to the violence in the Middle East, (or) the United States should encourage the two sides to find a solution on their own, but should not take an active role]?
|
Active role |
Not an active role |
No opinion |
|
|
2001 Aug 10-12 |
32% |
65 |
3 |
The poll also finds that by a similar two-to-one margin, 64% to 32%, Americans believe that there will not come a time when Israel and the Arab nations will be able to settle their differences and live in peace. These results represent an increase in pessimism since last February, when the margin was 56% to 41% against the likelihood of eventual peace, and show the highest level of pessimism across the six times that Gallup has asked this question since 1997.
| 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? |
 |
By little more than a three-to-one margin, 41% to 13%, Americans say their sympathies are more with the Israelis than the Palestinian Arabs in the Middle East situation. That leaves close to half (46%) who indicate no preference between the two sides: 7% who say their sympathies are with both sides equally, 18% whose sympathies are with neither side, and 21% who have no opinion on the matter.
These views have fluctuated over the years, although always with more people expressing sympathy with the Israelis than with the Arab Palestinians. The highest ratio of support for the Israelis, 64% to 7%, was measured during the Gulf War. At that time, the United States and Israel, along with other allied countries, were fighting against Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
| In the Middle East situation, are your sympathies more with the Israelis or more with the Palestinian Arabs? |
 |
SurveyMethods
Results reported here are based on telephone interviews with approximately 1,017 national adults, aged 18+, conducted Aug. 10-12, 2001. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the margin of sampling error is +/- 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.
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, there |
No, there |
No |
|
|
% |
% |
% |
|
|
2001 Aug 10-12 |
32 |
64 |
4 |
|
2001 Feb 1-4 |
41 |
56 |
3 |
|
2000 Jan 25-26 |
49 |
45 |
6 |
|
1999 Jul 22-25 |
49 |
47 |
4 |
|
1998 Dec 4-6 |
40 |
56 |
4 |
|
1997 Aug 12-13 |
36 |
56 |
8 |
In the Middle East situation, are your sympathies more with the Israelis or more with the Palestinian Arabs?
|
|
Palestinian Arabs |
|
NEITHER |
No |
||
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
||
|
2001 Aug 10-12 |
41 |
13 |
7 |
18 |
21 |
|
|
2001 Feb 1-4 |
51 |
16 |
7 |
14 |
12 |
|
|
2000 Oct 13-14 ^ |
41 |
11 |
9 |
18 |
21 |
|
|
2000 Jul 6-9 |
41 |
14 |
5 |
18 |
22 |
|
|
2000 Jan 25-26 |
43 |
13 |
5 |
21 |
18 |
|
|
1999 Jul 22-25 |
43 |
12 |
11 |
19 |
15 |
|
|
1998 Dec 4-6 |
46 |
13 |
5 |
22 |
14 |
|
|
1997 Aug 12-13 |
38 |
8 |
5 |
19 |
30 |
|
|
1996 Nov 21-24 |
38 |
15 |
6 |
14 |
27 |
|
|
1993 Sep 10-12 |
42 |
15 |
6 |
17 |
20 |
|
|
1991 Feb |
64 |
7 |
19 |
-- |
10 |
|
|
1989 Aug |
50 |
14 |
15 |
-- |
21 |
|
|
1988 May 13-15 |
37 |
15 |
22 |
-- |
27 |
|
|
^ |
Based on interviews with 821 national adults; +/- 4 pct. pts. |
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