The US partisan divide between Republicans and Democrats over Israel is now wider than at any point in the last forty years, a new poll by the Pew Research Center has found.
According to Pew, 79 percent of Republicans say they sympathize more with Israel than the Palestinians, compared with just 27 percent of Democrats.
This is the widest such disparity since the institute began polling on the issue in 1978.
Since 2001, Pew noted, the share of Republicans sympathizing more with Israel than the Palestinians has increased 29 percentage points, from 50 percent to 79 percent.
New Pew poll shows only 27% of Democrats sympathize with Israel over Palestine, a new low that reflects widening availability of real news and analysis of Israeli apartheid, Netanyahu's consolidation of right-wing control, and his close bond with Trump. https://t.co/VZXFNF1WGc
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) January 23, 2018
Over the same period, however, “the share of Democrats saying this has declined 11 points”, from 38 percent to 27 percent.
In a report on the poll by The Associated Press, its findings were described as evidence of “a very concerning trend” by Sallai Meridor, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States.
AP noted how “the share of liberal Democrats who sympathize more with Israel than the Palestinians has plummeted from 33 percent to 19 percent since 2016 alone, the survey found”.
Among Democrats, the decline over the last few years in those who say they sympathize more with Israel than the Palestinians is seen both among liberals and among conservatives and moderates. https://t.co/xSEe26Mrkc pic.twitter.com/a6aJ3X80mv
— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) January 23, 2018
“America is terribly divided today and Israel is perceived to be very close to a president that the other part of America is very much against,” Meridor said. “Over time I think it has its toll”.
The poll also found a generational divide; while 32 per cent of people under 30 favored Israel, and 23 percent sympathized more with the Palestinians, amongst respondents aged 50-64, Israel was favored by a margin of 56 percent to 12 percent.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
