Today the National Jewish Democratic Council released a short video featuring testimonies from ordinary Israelis thanking President Obama for his support of Iron Dome, an Israeli-developed missile defense system that’s been partially funded by the United States. Of course, nobody in the video thanks the person who actually initiated Iron Dome—President Bush, in 2007.
But we should nonetheless be thankful to the NJDC for raising the question of Israeli public opinion on Obama and Romney.
The video leaves the impression that Israelis view President Obama as a combination of King David, Cyrus, and David Ben-Gurion. But there is a rather more scientific way of evaluating Israeli public opinion: polling. And, as if on cue, Tel Aviv University has just released the results of its July poll, which asks a blunt question about how Israelis view Obama vs. Romney:
1. Barack Obama 18.6 2. Mitt Romney 39.9 3. Both to the same extent 9.9 4. Neither of them 6.4 5. I don’t knowrefuse to answer 25.2
So, by more than two-to-one, Israelis side with Romney.
For a more balanced account of Obama’s policies toward Israel, check out this video from the Emergency Committee for Israel:
UPDATE: As Ron Kampeas points out, I was wrong to state that funding started under President Obama; support for the program, however, was initiated under George W. Bush, though one wouldn’t know that from watching the NJDC video..
