72% of Israelis feel that the personal relationship between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama has an adverse effect on Israel-US relations, according to a poll by the Rafi Smith Institute for the "Jerusalem Post". 8% say that the relationship between the leaders affects the two countries positively, while 20% say that it has no effect on bilateral relations.
Almost two-thirds of Israelis (64%) feel that the US is very committed to the security of the State of Israel and its people. 31% feel that this commitment is low, and 5% feel that it does not exist at all.
The survey was carried out in the first week of December.
More men (67%) than women (61%) feel that the US is highly committed to the security of the State of Israel. The feeling increases with age. 78% of the over-50s see things this way, compared with 59% of those aged 30-49, and 56% of those aged 18-29. There is also a religious-secular divide over the question: 66% of secular respondents say the US is committed to Israel's security, compared with 53% of religious respondents.
This divide is even more pronounced on the issue of the effect of the personal relationship between Netanyahu and Obama on relations between Israel and the US. 80% of secular respondents say the relationship affects bilateral relations adversely, but only 51% of religious respondents think so. Younger people (77% of the 18-29 age group) and women (74%) are more inclined to see the personal relationship as affecting relations between the two countries adversely than older people (70% of the 50-plus age group) and men (71%). This view is also more prevalent among respondents with a higher education (73%) than among those with basic education only (70%).
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 9, 2014
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