The President of the United States, Joe Biden, attacked the Netanyahu government yesterday in an interview he gave to Seth Meyers' Light-Night program, saying that "Israel had the most widespread support from the absolute majority of the countries. If it continues like this, with its very conservative government – Ben Gabir and others – they will lose support from the rest of the world. And that is not in their interest." In response to his words, today (Tuesday) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's office published a press release and a video, in which he responded to Biden.
Netanyahu said that "since the beginning of the war, I have been leading a political campaign whose purpose is to curb the pressures intended to end the war before its time, and on the other hand, also to gain support for Israel. We have considerable success in this area, because today the Howard-Harris poll is published in the United States, which shows that – 82% of the American public supports Israel. That means four out of five citizens in the United States support Israel and not Hamas. This gives us two more strength to continue the campaign until complete victory."
The survey shows that 67 percent of Americans support a total ceasefire in the war in Gaza only after the return of all the abductees and the dismantling of Hamas rule, and 63 percent support the continuation of the IDF's activities in the southern Gaza Strip as well.
The monthly survey by the Harris Institute and the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University, conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week among a representative sample of 2,022 registered voters, examined the attitudes of the American public regarding the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
82 percent of all respondents said that they support Israel in the current conflict, an increase of two percent compared to the previous survey last month. In all age groups there was a majority for Israel's supporters, including 72 percent among those aged 18 to 24, two months after Israel and Hamas were tied among the younger age group.
Two-thirds of the respondents – 67 percent – stated that they support a ceasefire only after the release of all the abductees and the removal of Hamas rule, while 33 percent said that they want an unconditional ceasefire that leaves the status quo. Broken down by age, 53 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds expressed support for an unconditional ceasefire, while all other age groups supported the latter option.
63 percent said they support the expansion of Israel's military activity to the southern Gaza Strip, even though there are more than 1.2 million displaced people, and this time support was recorded among all age groups, including 57 percent among those aged 18 to 24. 68 percent of respondents also said that they think that Israel tries to avoid harming civilians during the fighting.
An overwhelming majority of the respondents – 78 percent – supported the possibility of removing Hamas from power in the Gaza Strip, but there was no unanimity on the question of "the day after". 34 percent said that Israel should manage the Strip after the overthrow of Hamas, 39 percent expressed support for the establishment of a new administrative authority by Arab countries, while only 28 percent supported the administration of the Palestinian Authority.
When the administration's security aid package to Israel is still stuck in the House of Representatives due to Republican opposition, 55 percent of respondents said they support the approval of the legislation that would provide $14 billion in aid to Israel and humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, when by comparison – the public is evenly divided regarding the question of aid worth $60 billion Dollar to Ukraine.
When the respondents were presented with the names of countries, media, state bodies and various groups, Israel received 51 percent support, more than the Fox network (50 percent), CNN (48 percent) or the X social network (41 percent), while the Palestinian Authority received 18 percent and Hamas with 11 percent. In a parallel list of names of political figures, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received 31 percent support against 30 percent who gave a negative score, more than Congress Speaker Mike Johnson (29 percent), Secretary of State Anthony Blinken (24 percent) and Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (12 percent).
Today the voting is taking place in the Democratic primaries in Michigan, when the estimates are that the largest Arab-American community in the key state is holding a protest vote against President Biden due to his support for Israel. However, only six percent of all respondents said that they see the war in Gaza as an important issue for the country, with the two burning issues being immigration (36 percent) and inflation (33 percent). On a personal level, only one percent of respondents said Israel was personally important to them when it came to voting in the election, with inflation leading the way at 42 percent, up four percent from last month.
45 percent of respondents gave a positive score to Biden, an increase of three percentage points compared to January, when 38 percent gave him a positive score for the handling of the war in Gaza. The support rate for the Democratic Party stands at 53 percent, a drop of two percentage points from January, while the Republican Party is tied at 50 between supporters and opponents.
In a direct matchup between Donald Trump and Biden, 48 percent expressed support for the former president who is expected to be the Republican candidate in the election compared to 42 percent who expressed support for Biden, an increase of one percentage point compared to January. When the question was presented with Robert Kennedy Jr. as the third candidate, Trump receives 44 percent, against 37 percent for Biden and 18 percent for Kennedy.
Biden also receives negative marks regarding his ability to continue for another term due to his advanced age. 59 percent said they had doubts Biden was fit for office, compared to 41 percent who said he was, a four percentage point increase from January. 67 percent said Biden is showing he is too old to be president versus 33 percent who said he is showing he is qualified.
However, 67 percent of respondents said they thought Biden would be the Democratic nominee in the election. On the question of whether Biden will not run in the end, Kamala Harris with 17 percent is seen as the favorite candidate to replace him as the Democratic nominee.
© 2024 News In Israel - Israeli News In English. All Rights Reserved.