Strong Israeli Support for Netanyahu, Ship Boarding and Gaza Blockade; Strong Israeli Dissatisfaction With American Reaction and President Obama

PRINCETON, N.J., June 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pechter Middle East Polls (PMEP) releases data from a nationally representative telephone survey of 500 Israeli Jews conducted in Hebrew June 7, 2010.  The margin of error is +/- 4%.

The poll was undertaken in the aftermath of the May 31, 2010 Israeli ship boarding in international waters off Gaza that left nine activists dead and several Israeli commandos injured.

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.

Responding to rumors that Turkish PM Erdogan is planning to come in person on a ship accompanied by Turkish Navy in order to break through the blockade, seventy five percent (75%) of those polled indicated that Israel should stop him whatever it takes. Regarding news reports that Iran is planning to send Red Crescent ships to Gaza, eighty four percent (84%) of those polled said stop them whatever it takes.

Political leaders fared differently in the poll. Fifty three percent (53%) were satisfied with Prime Minister Netanyahu's job performance while only forty one percent (41%) were satisfied with Defense Minister Ehud Barak's job performance. 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.

More complete results of the survey will be posted on pechterpolls.com.

About Pechter Middle East Polls

Pechter Middle East Polls (PMEP) was founded with the purpose of creating a more accurate, meaningful portrait of public opinion in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and select other countries.  Over the last year, PMEP has conducted polls in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon.

SOURCE Pechter Middle East Polls

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