Poll: Americans Opt for Neutrality in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

PROVIDING INSIGHT FOR MORE THAN 90 YEARS

CONTACT: Samantha Skinner312.821.7507 sskinner@thechicagocouncil.org

Poll: Americans Opt for Neutrality in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
More than 6 in 10 Americans say that the United States should not take a side

Data released today by The Chicago Council on Global Affairs revealed that more than 64 percent of Americans believe the United States should not take a side in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The data, pulled from the Chicago Council’s May 2014 study, prior to the June kidnappings that sparked the war in July, further showed that 30 percent of Americans favor taking Israel’s side and 3 percent favor the Palestinian side of the conflict.
This data provides a baseline for Americans’ attitudes prior to the latest turmoil in Gaza.  Previous data from Chicago Council Surveys suggest that the recent round of conflict would most likely not have a dramatic effect on Americans’ preference for the United States to stay neutral.
The Chicago Council Survey also found:

• Americans overall feel warmer towards Israel than the Palestinian Authority (59% versus 33%)
• Half of Americans (50%) support U.S. leaders meeting and talking with Hamas
• The lack of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians is not considered a critical threat (26% critical). A majority (53%) label it as an ‘important, but not critical, threat’
• Americans are somewhat in favor of using U.S. troops to defend Israel in the event of an attack by its neighbors
• Half of Americans (50%) would be willing to send US troops as part of a peacekeeping mission if a peace agreement reached
• Self-described Republicans tend to express more positive views toward Israel than Democrats or Independents.
• Younger Americans (between the ages of 18 and 29) now feel significantly less favorably about Israel than do Americans over the age of 60

Click here for the full survey results and key infographics. Use of data and infographics in publication is permissible, and should be credited to The Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
For more information regarding the 2014 Chicago Council Survey, please contact Samantha Skinner Monroe, Executive Director, Marketing and Communications, (sskinner@thechicagocouncil.org; 312-821-7507).

The 2014 Survey was conducted between May 6 to May 29, 2014 among a national sample of 2,108 adults, 18 years of age or older, living in all 50 US states and the District of Columbia. The margin of error is ± 2.1 percentage points.