Poll: Number of Israelis who see Obama as ‘positive’ or ‘neutral’ drops sharply

The percentage of Israelis who believe US President Barack Obama has either a “positive” or a “neutral” view of Israel has fallen steeply in the two years since his visit to Israel in the spring of 2012, according to a Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies survey released on Tuesday.

Of the respondents, 37 percent said Obama has a “positive” position toward Israel, and an equal number said he had a “negative” attitude toward the country. Another 24% said he was “neutral.”

In 2012, some 51% of the respondents of a similar BESA poll said Obama had “positive” attitudes toward Israel and another 32% believed he was “neutral.”

According to the survey, 52% of the respondents believe Obama’s policy regarding the Israel-Palestinian conflict has been “bad,” while 50% disapproved of his policies toward Iran and 47% said the same about his policies regarding Islamic State.

Some 65% of the respondents said America’s position in the Middle East has been weakened or seriously weakened since Obama took office in 2009, while 24% believe America’s position has remained unchanged and 11% think it has gotten stronger.