A new poll has revealed that 40% of Americans to some extent believe that Israel treats Palestinians like Nazis treated the Jews.
The survey, by the pro-Israel Anti Defamation League, surveyed 4,007 respondents in September and October 2022.
Among other things, it found that:
- 40% of Americans at least slightly agree that Israel treats Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews.
- 18% of Americans at least slightly agree that they are not comfortable spending time with people who openly support Israel.
- 23% of Americans at least slightly agree that Israel can get away with anything because its supporters control the media.
- 24% of Americans at least slightly agree Israel and its supporters are a bad influence on U.S. democracy.
The Anti Defamation League said young American adults have more anti-Israel sentiment than older generations, with 21% agreeing with five or more anti-Israel statements.
On the other hand, 90% of Americans believe Israel has a right to defend itself against those who want to destroy it, and 79% of Americans see Israel as a strong ally of the United States.
The ADL said the report shows “that anti-Israel sentiment, including anti-Israel sentiment rooted in antisemitic conspiracy theories, is held by broad swaths of the population. Analysis further revealed that while belief in traditional anti-Jewish tropes and anti-Israel sentiment are discrete, they overlap in substantial ways.”
In another study last year, the Pew Research Center found that Americans’ attitudes about Israel are nuanced.
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While two-thirds of U.S. adults (67%) expressed a favourable view of the Israeli people, a much smaller share (48%) said the same about the Israeli government. Views of Israel as a country, meanwhile, fell in between, with a little over half of Americans (55%) expressing a favourable opinion.
Israel has come under much negative publicity in the last few years, with Amnesty International following a host of other international human rights groups by labelling Israel’s actions “apartheid.”
A damning report by Amnesty last year said that Israeli authorities must be held accountable for committing the crime of apartheid against Palestinians.
Their investigation detailed how Israel enforces a system of oppression and domination against the Palestinian people wherever it has control over their rights. This includes Palestinians living in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), as well as displaced refugees in other countries.
