A Gallup poll in the United States found that Israel is among Americans’ most favored countries in the world. After Canada, Britain, Germany and Japan, Israel came in fifth with an approval rating of 67 percent of respondents, who were asked to provide their opinions about 20 countries that also included the Palestinian Authority. Only 25 percent of those surveyed said they had an unfavorable opinion of Israel.
Some 20 percent of respondents viewed the Palestinian Authority favorably, an improvement over last year's total of 15 percent, placing it fourth from the bottom. Iran continued to rank last, with a 10 percent favorable rating.
Israel was the only country rated this year that is viewed more favorably by Republican voters, with 80 percent of respondents identifying as Republicans viewing the Jewish state favorably, compared with only 53 percent of those who support the Democrats.
Some 63 percent of those polled said their sympathies lie more with Israel than with the Palestinians in the current situation, which is the highest level of support Israel has enjoyed in 19 years. About 15 percent said they sided more with the Palestinians.
However, only 30 percent of respondents in the survey expressed optimism about the likelihood of a peace agreement in the Middle East, the lowest percentage since Gallup first asked the question in 1997. Two thirds of those survey said they were pessimistic about the chances for peace between Israel and the Arabs.
61 percent of Americans view the military power of Iran as a critical threat to US vital interests over the next decade. Twenty-nine percent said Iran was an important, though not a critical, threat to the security of the United States.
