JERUSALEM, Sep.(Reuters) — President
Barack Obama's popularity has risen sharply in Israel after he spoke
out forcibly against a Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations
last week, according to a poll published by the Jerusalem Post on
Wednesday.
The poll found 54 percent of Jewish Israelis thought Obama's policy
was favorable to Israel, while 19 percent said it was pro-Palestinian. A
survey in May showed 12 percent thought U.S. policy was pro-Israel and
40 percent saw it as pro-Palestinian.
The surge in popularity followed a September 21 speech by Obama at
the United Nations in which he rejected a Palestinian quest for
statehood recognition and detailed the persecution of the Jewish people
through history.
Obama's U.N. speech was hailed by Israeli politicians of all colors,
while Palestinian leaders complained that he had ignored the plight of
their people who have been striving for independence for decades.
After taking office in 2009, Obama was criticized by many pro-Israeli
groups for being too tough on Israel in his efforts to coerce the two
sides back to the negotiating table.
Recent polls in the U.S. media have said his popularity amongst U.S.
Jewish voters -- traditionally loyal to the Democratic Party -- has
slipped and the Republican party has been swift to brand Obama as anti-Israeli.
Obama won the support of nearly 80 percent of Jewish voters in 2008, and
a fall in this support in 2012 could jeopardize his re-election drive
in battleground states like Florida and Pennsylvania, where Jewish
voters are an important swing bloc.
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