Poll: Donald Trump Will Be ‘Pro-Israel President,’ Most Israelis Believe

By Marcy Oster December 5, 2016

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Some 83 percent of Israelis believe that President-elect Donald Trump will be a “pro-Israel president,” according to a new poll.

The poll commissioned by the Ruderman Family Foundation also found that 49 percent of Israelis thought that the status of Jews in America would remain the same in the wake of the U.S. election, while 32 percent thought their status would be stronger and 19 percent weaker.

Five hundred Israelis responded to questions about the recent U.S. presidential election and its aftermath for Israel and the Jewish community.

The poll found that 32 percent of Israelis were either slightly concerned or concerned by the increase in anti-Semitic incidents reported in the United States since the election, with 16 percent very concerned and 20 percent not concerned at all.

Some 48 percent of respondents thought there was no chance that efforts by Trump would lead to a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians, with 45 percent saying there was a possible chance. At the same time, 49 percent said there was a possible chance that Trump would move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, with 26 percent giving a high chance and 22 percent no chance.

On the Iran nuclear deal, 42 percent said there was no chance that Trump would scrap the deal, with 43 percent saying there was a possible chance. Only 2 percent said there was no doubt that Trump would scrap the deal.

“Our poll of Israelis regarding the new U.S. administration and its impending impact on Israel and American Jewry shows that Israelis are optimistic that President-elect Trump will be a friend of Israel while at the same time they are concerned about the growing incidents of anti-Semitism in the United States and its impact on the American Jewish community,” Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation, said in a statement issued Monday.

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