Thursday, March 25, 2010

Up From 4

Only 9 percent of Israeli Jews believe that President Obama is pro-Israel, according to a poll taken by Smith Research on behalf of the Jerusalem Post. 48 percent said that the Obama favors the Palestinian side, while 30 percent said his administration is neutral. The remaining 13 percent expressed no opinion.

The 9 percent number is up from 4 percent last August, but the difference is only slighly outside the margin of error. Moreover, the poll was taken before Prime Minister Netanyahu's chily reception at the White House on Sunday.

President Bush was considered pro-Israel by 88 percent of Israeli Jews, with only 2 percent believing he was pro-Palestinian. And in May of last year, on the eve of the first White House meeting between Netanyahu and Obama, 31 percent labeled Obama pro-Israel, with only 14 deeming him pro-Palestinian.