57% of Americans Back Israel in Gaza War

By JTA July 23, 2014

A majority of Americans back Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip, according to a poll.

The CNN poll conducted from Friday to Sunday – just as Israel was launching its ground operation in the conflict, which started July 8 – found that 57 percent of Americans see Israel’s actions as justified, with 12 percent among those respondents saying Israel is not using enough force.

CNN noted that the same percentage, 57 percent, believed Israel was justified in its use of force during the previous conflict with Hamas in Gaza in 2012, and 63 percent thought it was justified during the 2008-2009 Cast Lead conflict.

The survey carried out by ORC International found, however, that Israel’s unfavorables were climbing, with 38 percent saying that they had an unfavorable opinion of the country, up 14 percent from February, and 60 percent posting a favorable opinion, down from 72 percent in February.

There were also troubling signs for supporters of Israel in the breakdown of the numbers. Democrats and people under 35 were split down the middle on Israel’s actions, divisions that were apparently made up for by stronger support among Republicans and older people as compared to previous polls.

The telephone poll of 1,012 Americans had a margin of error of three percentage points.

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