Poll: Big Drop in Israelis Who See Obama as Hostile
More: Poll: Big Drop in Israelis Who See Obama as Hostile
US President Barack Obama’s trip to Jerusalem last week made a significant impression on Israelis, but not the impression he was trying to make, according to a Smith Research poll taken for The Jerusalem Post in the aftermath of the visit.
The percentage of Israelis who consider the Obama administration more pro- Palestinian than pro-Israel fell by a whopping 20 percent since before the visit, the poll, taken on Sunday, found.
But the number of Israelis who consider the administration more pro-Israel than pro-Palestinian rose by only 1 percentage point, despite what was billed as Obama’s “charm offensive” to reach out to citizens of the Jewish state.
Obama’s statements in Hebrew about how good it was to return to Israel and that Israelis are not alone apparently failed to make a significant impression on them. Apparently, neither did more substantive steps such as securing funding for Israel’s missile defense systems and facilitating rapprochement with Turkey. But the results indicate that the negative feelings that came from Obama’s visit to Ramallah did resonate with Israelis.
Palestinian disappointment with Obama’s pro-Israel message and his not visiting former leader Yasser Arafat’s grave was widely reported in the Hebrew press.
Obama was greeted in Ramallah by 150 demonstrators chanting anti-American slogans, and the only heckler at his Jerusalem speech to left-wing Israeli students was an Israeli Arab.
