Israel's standing in the United States has improved following the recent war in Lebanon, according to two polls-one by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research (GQR), and the other by Quinnipiac University Polling Institute (QUPI).
According to GQR's poll, 53 percent of respondents considered themselves supporters or strong supporters of Israel. Only five percent said they were supporters or strong supporters of the Palestinians. GQR's Stan Greenberg said his findings showed that Israel's disengagement from Gaza and the Lebanon war brought Israel increased support from the American public. He said that since the withdrawal from Gaza, people believed that Israel was more willing to make sacrifices to advance peace than were the Palestinians or their leaders.
The GQR poll also showed that the war in Lebanon focused attention on the connection between Hizballah and Iran, the terrorist army's chief state sponsor. Only 38 percent of Americans were aware of the link during the first week of the war, in contrast to 53 percent after the fighting ended.
Most significantly, Greenberg said, there was an increased awareness that Islamic extremism, not the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is the source of instability in the Middle East. In the United States, 63 percent of respondents said that Islamic extremism is to blame for the region's instability, while only 15 percent blamed Israel.
QUPI also concluded that the recent conflict between Israel and Hizballah deepened already strong American support for the Jewish state. Completed shortly after the end of the Lebanon war, the QUPI poll asked respondents to rate countries on a "friend versus foe" scale of 1 to 100. Israel received an average score of 65.9, placing it third among the nations tested.
The GQR and QUPI surveys are not exceptional. U.S. polls have consistently found strong support for Israel, and that Americans across a range of demographic groups identify with the Jewish state.
