Support for Israel among Democrat voters in the United States has improved following President Joe Biden’s visit to Jewish State and its recent clash with Gaza Strip terrorist factions, new polls published Tuesday suggest.
The surveys conducted by the Israeli Foreign Ministry indicate that Israeli public diplomacy had managed to convince American crowds that its recent actions were justified.
The polls, which sampled 1,000 people, show that 56% of Americans and 69% of Democrats followed Biden's visit to Israel. Among supporters of the U.S. commander-in-chief that figure rises to 79% whereas 40% of respondents were not aware of his visit last month.
Nearly 70% of Democrat voters who followed the visit agreed with the statement that the U.S. president’s visit proved that U.S.-Israeli ties remain strong and that the president considers Israel an asset. Almost half of Democrat voters stated that their stance toward Israel was positively impacted overall.
Democrat voters over the age of 30 had a more favorable view of Israel compared with their younger peers with 51% of respondents saying they believe the Democrat leader should harbor close ties with Jerusalem and 53% considering Israel an asset for the U.S. The data also shows that 50% of young Democrat voters had a more favorable view of Israel following the president’s visit.
The polls indicate that 65% of the American public followed the escalation in Gaza during Operation Breaking Dawn, the Israeli name for the two-day flare-up, more than any other country. The polls showed that older, college-educated men from high-income households were more likely to follow the happenings in Gaza.
Respondents noted that they learned about the conflict from both Israeli and Palestinian sources and that the information didn’t change their views of Israel.
Some 46% said they consumed information about Israeli attacks in Gaza while 44% consumed information about Palestinian rocket launches into Israel. Only 24% said they read about Israel taking down terrorist leaders.
Among those who followed the operation, 60% said they believe that Israel targeted Palestinian civilians, 54% believe rockets were launched from Gaza into Israel, 34% believe that Israel targets terrorist leaders and 14% don’t remember. More than two-thirds of respondents who followed the conflict said that it did not change their opinions of Israel. The rest are evenly split as 15% of respondents said that their view of Israel was positively affected by the operation whereas another 15% said it had a negative effect on their views.
Going by political affiliation, 67% of Republican respondents reported having a positive opinion of Israel compared with 55% of Democrat voters; 69% of conservative Americans reported thinking positively of Israel compared to 53% among their liberal compatriots.
The polls also indicate that the American public addresses Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad as a unified group. A third believe they’re separate bodies working for Iran, 20% believe they act autonomously, and half aren’t sure.