In light of the nearing United States 2020 presidential elections, the outcome of which will greatly affect the future of Israel, the Israel Democracy Institute sought to find out what percentage of Israelis think which candidate will be best for Israel’s interests. Between the dates of June 28 and June 30, 609 men and women over the age of 18 were surveyed in Hebrew, either over the phone or on the internet, while 149 were asked in Arabic, constituting a representative national sample of the entire adult population of Israel aged 18 and older. Surveyors were asked: “From the standpoint of Israel’s interests, which, in your opinion, of the two candidates in the upcoming US presidential elections is preferable—Donald Trump (Republican Party) or Joe Biden (Democratic Party)?”While more than a quarter (26%) of interviewees said they did not have an opinion on the matter, more than half (56%) chose Trump and the remaining 16% chose Biden. The results from different political camps in Israel were expected, with the majority of those having answered Trump coming from the Israeli right-wing and center affiliated parties, while the majority of the Left chose Biden. From the Right, 75% chose Trump as being the preferable candidate, 20% answered that they didn’t have an opinion on the matter and only 5% percent opted for Biden. While the majority of the Left did opt for Biden, the percentage paled in comparison to the Right’s support for Trump. Only 56% percent of Left-affiliated surveyors opted for Biden, while 25% chose Trump and the remaining 19% percent responded that they didn’t know. In the center, 46% responded that Trump was the better candidate, 20% chose Biden and 34% chose the “don’t know” option. While the survey asked what presidential candidate is best for Israel’s interests, what Israel’s interests are and why each particular candidate was chosen were not discussed. However, rather than asking why surveyors feel the particular candidate they chose is preferable, they were instead asked about their view on another current event in the US sharing the spotlight with the presidential elections: the Black Lives Matter protests. Surveyors were asked if the protests were justified and what they thought about the movement of taking down historical statues and memorials. About two thirds (62%) of Jews found that the protests were justified, while a fifth (23%) were in opposition and the remainder (14%) responding that they didn’t have an opinion or didn’t know. Among the Arab population the percentage of people who thought that the protests are justified was 70%, while the percentage who think that the protests aren’t justified was lower at only 9%. Additionally more Arabs than Jews answered that they didn’t know (21%).Surveyors were then asked if “it is right to destroy memorials to historical events and to individuals whose opinions are nowadays considered discriminatory or racist; or, alternatively: It is not right to destroy memorials to historical events and to individuals, even if their opinions are nowadays discriminatory or racist.” The majority preferred the second claim, namely, that monuments should not be destroyed. Among the Arabs, however, a lower rate opposed the destruction of problematic monuments (45% vs. 59.5%). Source
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