A plurality of American voters disapprove of President Obama's handling of the Israeli-Palestinian situation, an opinion poll conducted by Quinnipiac last week reveals. Although Obama's handling of foreign policy is approved by almost one in two respondents, the administration’s "handling of the situation between Israel and the Palestinians" isn’t: 44 percent of respondents disapproved while 35 percent said they supported Obama’s stance vis-à-vis Israel. 21 percent said they did not know, or would not answer.
Broken down by party affiliation, Republicans were much likelier to disapprove, at 68 percent, while Democrats approved, with 59 percent. Independent voters were likelier to disapprove -- 47 percent to 33 percent.
Fifty-seven percent of respondents said their sympathies lay more with Israel than the Palestinians, while 13 percent sided with the Palestinians. Broken down along party lines, 70 percent to 8 of Republicans favored Israel over the Palestinians, as opposed to 46 percent to 19 of Democrats and 57 to 13 of independents.
A total of 34 percent of respondents saw Obama as a strong supporter of Israel, while 66 percent – with majorities across party lines – said he should be a strong supporter.
Half of those polled disapproved of Obama's policy of not using nuclear weapons against nations that forswear them. The poll, taken a month after the eruption of US-Israel tensions over building in eastern Jerusalem, surveyed 1,930 voters nationwide and had a margin of error of 2.2 percent.
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