A poll has shown, in the wake of the Gaza flotilla affair, that nearly three-quarters of Israelis – 71% – dislike President Barack Obama, with 47% registering a strong dislike of the U.S. president. The poll, conducted by Pechter Middle East polls, also found that 63% of Israelis were dissatisfied with the Obama Administration’s reaction and conduct regarding the Gaza flotilla. Other findings included: only 8% of Israelis believe that Israel used too much force in boarding the flotilla, as opposed to 85% of Israelis believing either that sufficient force was used or that even more should have been used. Also, 73% of Israelis oppose ending the Gaza blockade, while a majority of 56% opposed Israel agreeing to an international inquiry committee to investigate the incident (‘June 7, 2010 Israeli Poll on aftermath of Ship Boarding: Top Line Results [71.4% dislike Pres. Obama],’ Independent Media Review Analysis, June 10, 2010).
Following the interception of the ship Mavi Mamara and the violent assault upon the Israeli inspectors by the ship’s violent pro-Hamas occupants, the Obama Administration permitted the U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution that condemned the events leading to the violence. This resolution, while not mentioning Israel by name and thus permitting the Obama Administration to assert that the resolution had not condemned Israel, is universally held to have been a condemnation of Israel – not of the armed thugs onboard the Mavi Mamara, who initiated the violence; not the Islamist Turkish NGO, IHH, which has documented ties to A-Qaeda and organized the flotilla; and not the Turkish government, which falsely assured that the flotilla it permitted to sail had been inspected and found not to contain weapons and war materials.
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “The finding in this poll that such an overwhelmingly majority of Israelis dislike President Obama is neither new nor surprising.
“Israelis have seen the Obama Administration, from the President down, publicly condemning and pressuring Israel while ignoring or down-playing Palestinian intransigence, terrorism and incitement to hatred and murder.
“They have seen how a sworn enemy of Israel like Syria has been courted and how the Administration has been slow to move on imposing any sort of sanctions against Iran.
“They have seen the President inaccurately write off Jewish claims to statehood as some sort of consolation prize for the Holocaust in his June 2009 Cairo speech.
“They have seen that many of his Middle East advisers have track records of hostility to Israel.
“They have seen Obama, in a major speech to the U.N., couple America’s commitment to Israel’s security with Israel ‘respecting’ the legitimate claims and rights of the Palestinians.
“They have seen other senior Administration officials condition the extent of their efforts to stop Iran going nuclear on Israeli concessions to the Palestinians; and they have seen the Obama Administration condemn as ‘an insult to America’ Israel’s announcement that it will build homes for Jews in a Jewish neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem.
“They have also seen his Administration increasing aid to $900 million annually to a Palestinian Authority that refuses to negotiate, make concessions or end terrorism or incitement to hatred and murder against Israel.
“’Several previous polls have shown that, within a few months of President Obama taking office and publicly hectoring and pressuring Israel, Israelis quickly discarded their liking for this president and began overwhelmingly to doubt his friendship and support for Israel. As a result, Israeli approval of Obama fell from 31% in May 2009 to 6% in June 2009 and then to 4% in August 2009. By now, that disapproval has turned to active dislike.”