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April 15, 2005/Nisan 6 5765, Volume 57, No. 33
Polls find support for Sharon among U.S. Jews and non-Jews
RACHEL POMERANCE
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
NEW YORK - Ariel Sharon's popularity has reached a new high among Americans, and most American Jews support the Israeli prime minister's Gaza withdrawal plan, according to new polls.
It's a "very, very good moment for the Sharon government," said John Marttila, president of the Marttila Communications Group, which conducted the Anti-Defamation League's 2005 Survey of American Attitudes Toward Israel and the Middle East, which was released on April 11.
Forty-two percent of Americans have a favorable impression of Sharon, up from 36 percent two years ago.
And a record 71 percent of Americans say Israel can be counted on as a loyal U.S. ally. That number had bounced between 60 percent and 64 percent in the four earlier national surveys Marttila conducted for the ADL since 1992.
Israel's Gaza withdrawal plan is seen as a bold step for peace by 67 percent of Americans, according to the ADL poll, which was conducted last month among 1,600 people and had a margin of error of 2.8 percent.
The ADL survey corroborates the findings of other recent polls. A survey of American Jewry by the Ameinu organization, also released on April 11, found that 62 percent of American Jews support the disengagement plan.
In the context of a peace agreement, 42 percent thought Israel should be willing to withdraw from most Jewish settlements in the West Bank - even though only 24 percent believe most Palestinians are willing to live in peace next to the Jewish state, and 70 percent believe the Palestinians will continue terrorist attacks even if a peace agreement is reached, the Ameinu survey found.
The survey was conducted among 501 American Jews and had a margin of error of 5 percent.
Taken together, the polls fuel the Anti-Defamation League's longstanding initiative to galvanize support for Gaza withdrawal. One of the reasons for the ADL's survey was to reveal the broad consensus for Israel's withdrawal, National Director Abraham Foxman said.
"I think it's important that the Israeli public, in these difficult times ahead, understands and knows that the overwhelming majority of Americans support what they're engaged in," Foxman said.
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