Matt Yglesias

Americans Favorably Disposed to Pro-Israel Lobbying, and Increasingly So

The Anti-Defamation League’s poll on anti-Jewish beliefs in America features a couple of instances of what I think are dubious statistical interpretation, but also a bunch of interesting stuff. This trend, in particular, is interesting and I think runs somewhat counter to media perceptions:

In the early nineties, public opinion was closely divided on the merits of the influence of pro-Israel lobbying organizations. More recently, however, support became pretty overwhelming reflecting, I would guess, the growing influence of Christian Zionist thinking.

24 Responses to “Americans Favorably Disposed to Pro-Israel Lobbying, and Increasingly So”

1. MPC Says:
   October 29th, 2009 at 3:20 pm

   I, for one, am shocked to learn that the American people are sympathetic to Israel after the persistent suicide bombings and bus bombings throughout the 90’s and 2000’s. Throw in the Hezballah rocket attacks of ‘06 for good measure…

2. Jesse Says:
   October 29th, 2009 at 3:31 pm

   Well, the number of people who think the Israel Lobby should have MORE influence hasn’t gone up at all (slightly down, in fact), which suggests to me that this has more to do with the events of 9/11 convincing more Americans that Middle East stuff was pretty important, and shouldn’t be ignored.

   Hence more people saying that the Israel Lobby has “about the right amount” of sway, and a lot fewer saying it’s got too much. I suspect a chunk of the “too much” cohort had been 90s-era Buchananite-type isolationists, and 9/11 really killed that movement off.

3. PST Says:
   October 29th, 2009 at 3:33 pm

   Most Americans consider themselves pro-Israel. I would find it tough to tell a pollster that I was concerned about the influence of pro-Israel lobbying organizations without worrying that I might come off like I believed in some kind of anti-semitic conspiracy theory. That poll question may produce misleading results because it doesn’t offer a clear choice for those of us who support Israel but think some pro-Israel organizations are advocating disastrous policies.

4. David Says:
   October 29th, 2009 at 3:35 pm

   When you have someone like Dick Cheney running things, the notion that the Israeli lobby has too much influence seems quaint.

5. abb1 Says:
   October 29th, 2009 at 3:48 pm

   You shouldn’t believe anything a lying Zionist organization like ADL publishes. It’s all lies; quite simply: they have an agenda and no interest in truth whatsoever.

6. ron Says:
   October 29th, 2009 at 3:59 pm

   Anything from the ADL should be viewed skeptically.

7. rusty Says:
   October 29th, 2009 at 4:07 pm

   I would agree with #3 (PST) — the language of the poll question is very vague if you’re a disinterested party. Many Americans who don’t have a sense of Israeli politics but support the continued existence of the state in general may say “no problem” to a poll question like this.

8. Nimed Says:
   October 29th, 2009 at 4:11 pm

   Jesus. I don’t get it. Having advocates of other countries’ interests in Washington is ridiculous.

   Why not start other pro-(insert country) lobbies? After all, we get along well with U.K., Australia or Philippines

9. otto Says:
   October 29th, 2009 at 4:40 pm

   In early 1990s Pres. GHW Bush was publically critical of settlements and Jewish lobbying on the Hill to keep US policy supporting them. Bill was much more an AIPAC man, no criticism from politicians helps your popularity.

10. otto Says:
    October 29th, 2009 at 4:40 pm

    In early 1990s Pres. GHW Bush was publically critical of settlements and Jewish lobbying on the Hill to keep US policy supporting them. Bill was much more an AIPAC man, no criticism from politicians helps your popularity.

11. SLC Says:
    October 29th, 2009 at 6:20 pm

    I’m sure that Mr. otto, Mr. abb1, Mr. Don Williams, Mr. Arnold
    Evans, Mr. Trevor, et al had an orgasm after reading the story linked to below.

    http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1256799043427&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

12. WinSmith Says:
    October 29th, 2009 at 6:24 pm

    I think American sympathy for the Palestinian cause dropped significantly after Israel offered them land, open borders and guns, and they sent 500+ nail bombers into the streets of Israel to kill civilians in horrific terrorist attacks lasting 2+ years.

    That sort of thing doesn’t go over well with the American public.

13. WinSmith Says:
    October 29th, 2009 at 6:27 pm

    @nimed

    Jesus. I don’t get it. Having advocates of other countries’ interests in Washington is ridiculous.

    Because Israel has over 100,000 Americans who moved there, and probably another 500,000 immediate relatives of American citizens. Other than maybe Canada and Mexico, there is no other country so intertwined with Americans, and thus, many Americans have a vested interest in protecting/aiding Israel — especially given its neighbors.

14. chet Says:
    October 29th, 2009 at 8:35 pm

    The Christian Zionist Movement and AIPAC – what an unholy alliance!!

15. fostert Says:
    October 29th, 2009 at 8:38 pm

    “Other than maybe Canada and Mexico, there is no other country so intertwined with Americans”

    Umm, you might want to add China, India, Philippines, Korea, Vietnam, El Salvador, Cuba, Japan, Germany, France, Spain, England, Thailand, Brazil, Argentina, Belgium, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the Dominican Republic. And that’s just for starters. Israel comes way down the list. I’ll admit that delusions are powerful, and that’s the only reason anyone gives a damn about Israel. But at some point, can we talk about the countries that really matter to us? Yes, Israel is and should be in the top hundred countries, but certainly not the top forty. That they are so important now just shows how disproportionate AIPAC’s power really is.

16. Brett Says:
    October 29th, 2009 at 11:05 pm

    I’ll admit that delusions are powerful, and that’s the only reason anyone gives a damn about Israel. But at some point, can we talk about the countries that really matter to us?

    Keep in mind that if a large majority of the population really is highly supportive of Israel (that’s an “if”, by the way – ADL definitely has an axe to grind in this fight), then it does really matter to the US. The US is a democratic republic, after all, and foreign policies are going to, at least in part, reflect what the public is desiring or the politicians will lose their jobs.

    Of course, this is different than saying “Supporting Israel will bring long-term benefits to the US from a strategic, political, and economic perspective.”

17. fostert Says:
    October 29th, 2009 at 11:38 pm

    “The US is a democratic republic, after all, and foreign policies are going to, at least in part, reflect what the public is desiring or the politicians will lose their jobs.”

    Fair enough, but I’m the one who’s really crazy and the rest of the people have less sense than I do. In Douglas Adams’ book So Long and Thanks for the Fish, there was a guy who lived in a house called Outside the Asylum. It was reversed from the inside out. So when you walked in, you were actually outside. The point was that everyone was crazy and the Asylum was really the entire world. He was the only sane person, and so he lived outside of the Asylum. That’s pretty much how I feel. I’m glad I’m crazy because being sane is obviously nuts.

18. David Says:
    October 30th, 2009 at 7:22 am

    How is Belgium relevant to anything ?
    Most Americans couldn’t tell you in which continent it is.

19. Edward Says:
    October 30th, 2009 at 11:45 am

    abb1, You shouldn’t believe anything lying Islamist CAIR/UNHRC and Progressively blind organizations like HRW/Guardian/Independent/neo-commie rags publish. It’s all lies; quite simply: they have an agenda and no interest in truth whatsoever,

    but you probably do.

20. Roger Says:
    October 30th, 2009 at 12:47 pm

    The real rise in the ‘about right’ line occurs precisely during the period of the Oslo accords when Israel was percieved as acting far more moderately – thus what this measures is not what the public think about pro-Israeli lobbyists but what they think about Israel itself.

    If Israel is broadly behaving sympathetically then lobbying for Israel is considered to be OK.

    Presumably it would take both a prolonged period of really bad behaviour from Israel strongly supported by the US to change these figures – interesting to see if Gaza registers when they next do this survey.

21. abb1 Says:
    October 30th, 2009 at 1:34 pm

    CAIR, UNHRC, HRW, Guardian, and Independent are not Zionist or Neonazi organizations; I don’t mind their agendas. Their agendas are rational and compatible with the truth.

22. Ron Says:
    October 30th, 2009 at 1:37 pm

    Mexico and Canada may be more relevant than Israel, but the former has a pretty bad image in public opinion and latter barely ever registers on the radar.

23. Edward Says:
    October 30th, 2009 at 2:34 pm

    abb1, hamas, hezbullah, al qada, muslim brotherhood ARE Wahabbist Islamist Neonazi organizations.

    To see some nice examples of strangely familiar outstretched arm salutes by members, admirers of the above thugs…

    Google Images “arab nazi salutes” and you’ll see for yourself.

    It is also quite revealing that shitlers mein kampf, the Arabic translation, has been a Best Seller in the Middle East

    And Mark Garlasco of Human Rights Watch was outed for his nazi memorabilia fetish.

24. abb1 Says:
    October 30th, 2009 at 3:35 pm

    Is the Guardian run by the muslim brotherhood? I did not know that. Thank you for clearing that out.