AMMAN — Two University of Maryland
Critical Issues polls on American attitudes toward the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict have shown a wide gap between the position of the Democratic Party
constituents on the one hand, and that of elected congressional Democrats and
the Biden administration on the other. It also showed a split on the question
of boycotting Israel.
اضافة اعلان
Conducted between May and June, one Critical Issues
poll of more than 2,000 respondents, fielded by Nielsen Scarborough, asked how
respondents perceived the position of the
Biden administration on the
Israeli-Palestinian issue, compared to their own. Not surprisingly, a little
over half (54 percent) did not know. But most Democrats who expressed an
opinion said that the administration’s positions leaned toward Israel more than
their own, while most Republicans said the Biden administration was leaning
more toward Palestine than they were. Overall, 44 percent of Republicans said the
administration was leaning more toward
Palestine, and 9 percent said it was
leaning more toward Israel, while 26 percent of Democrats said the Biden team
was leaning more toward Israel, and 3 percent said it was leaning more toward
Palestine.
Asked about the positions of the respondents’
elected congressional representatives, a majority, 56 percent, said “don’t
know”, but a majority of those who expressed an opinion said their
representatives were leaning toward Israel more than they were personally.
Of Republicans, who on average expressed strong
pro-Israel views, 23 percent said their representative were leaning more toward
Israel than they were. Only 15 percent said the representatives leaned more
toward the Palestinians. Among Democrats who had an opinion, 33 percent said
their representatives were leaning toward Israel more than they were, while 3
percent said their representatives were leaning more toward the Palestinians.
The poll also found that two-thirds of Democrats
wanted the US to lean neither toward Israelis nor toward Palestinians. Among
those who wanted the US to take sides, more Democrats, especially young
Democrats, wanted the US to take the side of the Palestinians than Israel’s.
One of the most controversial issues in American
political discourse about the Israeli-Palestinian issue has been the question
of boycott of Israel, especially the
Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS)
movement.
A second Critical Issues poll, conducted in June
among 2,208 respondents, asked a single question about BDS to all participants,
without probing first to see who had heard of it and who had not, providing
respondents with the option of “don’t know”.
Only 34 percent said they did not know, while
another 18 percent said they neither supported nor opposed BDS. Nearly half
provided supportive or opposing opinions.
The breakdown along party lines was similar: 50
percent of Republicans strongly or somewhat opposed BDS, while 9 percent
supported it, while, 33 percent of Democrats supported BDS and 10 percent opposed
it.
Whatever the causes, the gap in opinion about
Israel/Palestine between the public and elected congressional officials remains
high, even though it had somewhat narrowed after the 2018 and 2020 elections
that brought to Congress a few members who appear more reflective of Democratic
public opinion on this issue.
In US Democratic politics, the relevant arena on
this issue is the primaries, given that Republicans overwhelmingly favor
Israel, and even Democratic voters strongly supportive of Israel are unlikely
to vote for a Republican candidate in the general election if the Democratic
contenders’ position on Israel/Palestine does not match their own. This may
explain why the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has been
spending millions of dollars in the current primary cycle to defeat candidates
deemed not sufficiently pro-Israel, while working to elect others who are.
The gap between the Biden administration and the Democratic
public on Israel/Palestine remains wide — and the public perceives it. The
Israel-Palestinian issue is not currently a priority in American politics. Even
priority foreign policy issues, such as the Russia-Ukraine war, have been shown
to have little impact on the American partisan divide. But that does not mean that
these issues have no consequence for the popularity of the administration.
Read more Region and World
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
