1968_4_arabisraelwar

American Public Opinion
A OR FOUR WEEKS, beginning May 15, 1967, when Egypt, Syria,
Jordan, and Iraq began mobilizing their forces against Israel, until June 10,
when the six-day war ended, most Americans were caught up in Middle East
events. The Israeli-Arab crisis affected Americans more deeply than any foreign
conflict—except, of course, the war in Vietnam—partly because it was a
microcosm reflecting the larger conflict between the Soviet Union and the
United States.
The conflict aroused in American Jews unpredictedly intense feelings regarding
Israel, Jewish survival, and their own sense of Jewish identity. The
relatively cool responses from official Catholic and Protestant spokesmen had
unforeseen and dramatic consequences for relations between Jews and Christians.
Finally, the crisis, especially because of what was called its parallels
with the war in Vietnam, created deep and lasting divisions among a wide
variety of leftist parties and organizations in the United States.
PUBLIC OPINION
Time (June 16, 1967), in a story on the American reaction to the six-day
war, asserted that "there was little doubt as to where the majority of Americans
stood." To the extent that Americans knew about the crisis, they were
in the main on Israel's side.
Public-opinion Polls
The first polls, released when the war was over but obviously taken before
the war, showed that public opinion favored Israel. A Gallup poll, released
June 11, found that 59 per cent of a national sample were aware of and
knew something about the conflict. When asked about their sympathies, 55
per cent said they were with Israel, compared with only four per cent who
said their sympathies were with the Arabs. Forty-one per cent were undecided,
or expressed no particular sympathy for either side.
A Harris poll taken immediately after the outbreak of hostilities, released
June 10, showed that 41 per cent of a national cross section were more
sympathetic with the Israelis, 1 per cent was sympathetic with the Arabs,
40 per cent had no strong feelings either way, and 18 per cent were not sure.
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