Israel And Public Opinion

While catching up with my Rasmussen polling news, I came across an interesting July survey figure: 60% of Americans have a favourable opinion of Israel, and 26% have an unfavourable opinion.  The crosstabs of that survey offer some interesting data on where public support for Israel comes from.

More Republicans tend to have a favourable view (68%) than Democrats (58%).  That’s not so surprising.  Some big differences emerge between generations among men.  71% of men 40+ have a favourable view, compared with only 51% of men under 40.  Among women, favourable opinion of Israel is roughly the same: 53% for women 40+ and 56% for women under 40.  The groups with the highest unfavourable rating are 18-29 year olds at 35% vs. 55% favourable and 30-39 year olds at 32%.  Fav/Unfav ratings track income level pretty closely, so that among the lowest income groups unfavs are high (e.g., 38% among those earning less than $20K) and quite low among the wealthiest (12% among $100K+ earners).