The Pew Research Center conducted the survey below from March 16 to May 1, 2022 – more than a month before the June 20 collapse of the coalition government, the announcement of elections in November, and Yair Lapid replacing Naftali Bennett as prime minister. Keep that in mind when reviewing the results.
According to Pew, a majority of adults in both Israel and the United States have favorable views of each other’s countries and the relations between them. But Israelis tend to be more positive than Americans on the relationship. Also, the intensity of positive sentiment in Israel toward the US has diminished after Biden replaced Trump. Also: Israelis are divided on former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s handling of the relationship with the US.
First, here’s something you can title, “Only in Israel.” Israel stands out in 2017 as one of the only countries (out of 37) where former President Trump scored higher than former President Barack Obama. But wait, there’s more: Israelis’ confidence in Trump grew during his presidency, so that today, while 60% of Israelis say they have a great deal or some confidence in Biden to do the right thing regarding world affairs, this figure is down 11% from their assessment of Trump in 2019. Also: only 16% of Israelis expressed a lot of confidence in Biden – compared to 30% who were crazy about Trump.
On the other hand, only 21% of Israelis described Biden as dangerous, compared to 42% who believed so about Trump. Also, only 28% said Biden was arrogant, compared to 65% who attributed this to Trump. And 29% agreed that Biden was intolerant – 59% said this about Trump.
The views regarding whether Biden favors Israelis or Palestinians are radically different between Israeli and US respondents: in Israel, 31% believe Biden favors the Israelis, 26% the Palestinian, and 34% said he strikes the right balance. Only 9% were not sure. In the US, 8% said Biden favors the Israelis, 13% the Palestinians, 16% strikes the right balance, and a whopping 62% said they weren’t sure.
Now, a very touchy part. It turns out more Israelis love America than the other way around. According to Pew, only 8% of Israelis harbor bad feelings about the US, and 89% have good feelings. In the US, 22% have bad feelings about Israel, and only 74% have good ones.
Also: only 16% of Israelis think the bilateral relationship is bad, and 83% think it’s good. But 41% of Americans think the relationship is bad, and only 55% say it’s good.
Here’s another worrisome point: Americans have very limited awareness of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel: Only 3% of Americans have heard “a lot” about BDS, and an additional 12% say they have heard “some” about it.
Meanwhile, 55% of Israelis disapprove of Biden’s plans to reopen the US Consulate in eastern Jerusalem.
In the US, the survey was conducted on the Pew Center’s nationally representative American Trends Panel, among 3,581 adults, from March 21 to 27, 2022. In Israel, a nationally representative survey was conducted via in-person interviews from March 16 to May 1, 2022, among 1,000 Israelis.
