Another Poll: 77% Say It Makes No Difference

Peace Index - August, 2010
Prof. Ephraim Yaar and Prof. Tamar Hermann

Summary of the Findings

• “The whole world is against us.” That is what 56% of the Jewish public believes. A larger majority (77%) thinks it makes no difference what Israel does and how far it may go on the Palestinian issue; the world will continue to be very critical of it. The positions of the Arab public are reversed: a large majority (75%) disagrees with the maxim that the whole world is against Israel, and a majority of 54% sees a connection between Israel’s actions and world criticism.

• Should Israel take world opinion into account? The Jewish public is split almost
evenly on this question: 51% think Israel should consider world opinion when making
foreign policy decisions while 48% think it should not. The picture is quite different when it comes to the United States – a sweeping majority (71%) thinks Israel should take Washington’s positions into account. In the Arab public, a huge majority (85%) thinks Israel should take world opinion into account when making foreign policy decisions and an even larger majority (89%) thinks Israel should be cognizant of U.S. opinion.

• A people that dwells alone? On the question of Israel’s current status in the
international arena, a small majority of the Jewish public thinks Israel is moderately or completely isolated (54%), compared to 46% who say it is not isolated. The picture in the Arab public is the reverse, but not dramatically so: 48% think Israel is isolated while 51% see it as not being isolated.