Poll of Israelis Finds Huge Support for Flotilla Raid, Hostility to Obama

Speaking of what Israelis will allow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept from the U.S. and the Palestinians with regard to direct negotiations and a potential easing of the Gaza blockade, a New Jersey polling firm, Pechter Middle East Polls, conducted a poll in Hebrew yesterday among 500 Israelis to discern post-flotilla-raid Israeli attitudes. The poll, released today, finds wide consensus in favor of the raid:

Eighty five percent (85%) of the respondents indicated that Israel either did not use enough force (39%) or used the right amount of force (46%) regarding the recent ship boarding incident. Only eight percent (8%) felt the Israelis used too much force.  Sixty one percent (61%) felt that Israel should not adjust its tactics to elicit a more favorable international reaction.

Seventy three percent (73%) of those polled indicated that Israel should not open up Gaza to international humanitarian shipments. A majority of those polled, fifty six percent (56%) indicated that Israel should not agree to an international inquiry committee to investigate the incident.

Recall that President Obama did not join the rest of the world in condemning the raid. But it appears that Israelis expected him to support it:

Seventy one percent (71%) disliked U.S. President Barack Obama with forty seven percent (47%) expressing a strong dislike. In all, sixty three percent (63%) of those polled were dissatisfied with the American government’s reaction to the incident.