Israel is the second-most pro-America country in the world and Israelis have a more positive view of the US than Americans by some measures, according to a Pew Research poll released on Tuesday.
Eighty-seven percent of Israelis have a positive view of the US; the only country in which the US has a higher favorability rating is Poland, at 93%. The lowest score was from Hungary, at 44%.
Israel’s current view of the US is the most positive since 2000, and improved slightly from last year, at 83%.
That 68% of Israelis have confidence in US President Joe Biden’s “leadership of world affairs,” is similar to how he is viewed in Sweden, Kenya, Nigeria, Germany, and the Netherlands. Biden’s highest score came from Poland and the lowest from Hungary.
Israelis’ view of Biden improved eight percentage points since last year but has not yet reached former president Donald Trump’s peak at 71%. Trump’s high score tied with former president Barack Obama’s in 2013, but they are also tied for the lowest score since 2000, 56%, which they received in 2009 and 2017. The US president with the best score among Israelis in the last 20 years was George W. Bush, with 83% approval in 2003.
A JERUSALEM MUNICIPALITY worker hangs an American flag in Jerusalem, on Sunday in preparation for the upcoming visit of President Joe Biden. Let’s see America forever stand by allies like Israel, says the writer. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)Does the US consider other nations in their military proceedings?
For over 20 years, Pew has asked respondents around the world whether they believe the US takes countries like theirs into account, and most typically say no. In Israel, however, 80% said yes, the highest score of all. The international median is 49%, and 71% of Americans said yes. This is the second-highest score Israel has given the US in that area; in 2018, when Trump was president and recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, he received 86%.
Most respondents in every country polled said that the US interferes in their affairs. In Israel, 88% said so, putting it about on par with Japan, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, France, and Canada.
About three-fourths of Israelis (74%) also believed that the US contributes to world peace and stability, something that fewer Americans (69%) believe.
More Israelis (64%) than citizens of any other country viewed the US as a more democratic society than other wealthy countries. The 23-country median was 27%.
Israelis are also more likely than other countries to view the US as more tolerant than most affluent countries; 45% of Israelis said yes, while the median is 21%.
Only five countries in the world have a more positive view of the US military than Americans. Three-quarters of Americans say that the US military is the best or above average, while 94% of Israelis do, 86% of Nigerians, 86% of Poles, 79% of Swedes and 78% of Kenyans.
In addition, since the COVID-19 pandemic, respondents are more likely to view the US, rather than China, as the world’s leading economic power. Across 23 nations, 41% answered the US, while 33% named China. In Israel, 61% said the US, while only 20% chose China, another 3% said the EU and 4% Japan.
Pew conducted its surveys among 27,285 adults in 23 countries on February 20-May 22 of this year. The polling in Israel was conducted face-to-face.
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