Support for Israel in the United States has been steadily increasing, according to a poll released today by Gallup.
There is a significant difference between the favorable opinion on Israel for Americans who are 55 and older (81% favorable opinion) versus that of 18-34 year old Americans (64% favorable opinion). Yet it is still much higher than American opinion of the Palestinian Authority, which is at 24% for Americans who are 18-34, and 16% for Americans who are 55 and older.
Especially encouraging, support among younger adults for Israel has increased. It was at 58% in 2011 for those who are 18-35 according to the 2011 Gallup poll. Today, support for Israel among younger adults is 6% higher than it was back in 2011.
Overall favorable opinion on Israel has steadily climbed over the past four years to 72% from 67%, and slowly approaching the all time high over 20 years ago.
It is certainly the highest it’s been this century:
Favorable opinions on other neighboring countries and entities have remained similar aside from that of Iran which has moved up to 13% from a 9% low last February. Favorable opinion of the Palestinian Authority has slightly increased from last year but is similar to where it was in 2010.
Another key finding was that liberals are over 50% more likely to have a favorable opinion of Israel than they are of the Palestinian Authority, with 30% holding a favorable opinion of the Palestinian Authority versus 49% holding a favorable opinion of Israel. This might be due to the liberal values that the United States and Israel have in common such as minority, lesbian and gay rights, a free and open press, environmental regulations, etc.
By Gilad Skolnick
