Israelis Still Prefer Hillary to Donald Trump — Even After AIPAC
Donald Trump’s speech to America’s largest pro-Israel lobby did not help his standing among Israelis, a new poll shows.
The March Peace Index, a monthly poll of Israeli attitudes by the Israel Democracy Institute think tank, showed that 40 percent of Israeli Jews thought Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton would be “better for Israel,” versus 30 percent for Trump, the Republican front runner. In addition, 43 percent of Israeli Jews feel Clinton would better serve American interests, as opposed to 28 percent for Trump.
The poll was taken from March 28 to 30, about a week after Trump addressed the national conference of AIPAC, the United States’ largest pro-Israel lobby. Trump’s speech, which struck traditional pro-Israel notes, drew an enthusiastic response from the crowd amid scattered protests. Previously, Trump had said he would be “neutral” on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israelis also favored Clinton over Trump before the AIPAC conference. A survey in early March by the Israeli news website Walla found that Israelis preferred Clinton to Trump by a margin of 38 to 23 percent. IDI’s February poll, however, found that 60 percent of Israelis believe a Trump administration would be friendly to Israel.
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