Poll finds 2/3 of Republicans put Israel's interests over America's

The week-long back-and-forth between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama has commentators choosing sides as to who fared better in the public spat.

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

published 16 April 2015

A Bloomberg Politics poll released Wednesday found that Israel has become a polarizing subject in American politics — no surprise there, given the Obama administration's high-profile disagreement over Iran with the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu is more popular among Republicans, Obama among Democrats and independents:

The surprising finding has to do with America's core interests. When asked to choose between the following two statements — "Israel is an important ally, the only democracy in the region, and we should support it even if our interests diverge" and "Israel is an ally but we should pursue America's interests when we disagree with them" — Republicans chose the "even if our interests diverge" option by a 67 percent to 30 percent margin, versus 64 percent of Democrats who said the U.S. should pursue its own interests.

Self-identified born-again Christians and conservatives were a lot more likely than moderates and the religiously unaffiliated to back Israel regardless of U.S. interests. The survey was conducted by Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer April 6-8, and has a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points. You can read the numbers and methodology here.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.