1968_4_arabisraelwar

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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. 198
AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION / 199 Forty-six per cent thought the Israelis were right, while only 4 per cent held that the Arabs were right. When asked which side wanted to start the war, 63 per cent blamed the Arabs, contrasted with only 16 per cent who thought Israel wanted to start the war. Both polls showed that most Americans did not want the United States to become directly involved in the conflict. According to Gallup, 41 per cent said the United States ought to stay out of the conflict; 16 per cent thought that the United States ought to support Israel short of military involvement; 14 per cent thought the United States ought to negotiate for peace, without specifying how; 11 per cent thought the United States should work through the United Nations. Only 5 per cent thought the United States should send American troops to support Israel. Though the Harris poll showed substantial differences from the Gallup poll in some responses, it reinforced the findings that Americans did not want the United States to become involved in a Middle East war. According to Harris, 77 per cent of the respondents said that the United States should work through the United Nations; ten per cent felt that the United States should send supplies, but not troops, to Israel. When asked if they would favor or oppose America's sending troops and military supplies to back Israel in the war, only 24 per cent said they favored sending American troops to aid Israel, 56 per cent were opposed, and 20 per cent were not sure. Though most Americans thought that the United States should work through the United Nations, 49 per cent believed that the United Nations had not been effective in dealing with the Middle East crisis. According to a July 8 Gallup poll, 57 per cent of a national sample thought that the Israelis and Arabs ought to work out their own formula for peace; 36 per cent felt that the United Nations should have the final say in peace plans. When asked whether Israel should be required to give back all or some of the Arab land it had occupied during the war, 24 per cent said Israel should keep all the land and 49 per cent said Israel should keep some of it; only 15 per cent said that Israel should give it all back; 12 per cent had no opinion. A Harris poll, released July 10, showed that a majority of Americans supported Israel's principal conditions for a peaceful settlement of the Middle East crisis. Eighty-eight per cent said Israel should be guaranteed the right to send her ships through the Gulf of Aqaba; 86 per cent thought Israel should be given freedom of passage through the Suez Canal; 82 per cent felt that the Arab nations should recognize Israel as a state; and 62 per cent disagreed with a statement that Israel should withdraw all her forces from Arab territory before other issues would be settled. When asked how they felt about Russia's efforts to have the United Nations condemn Israel as an aggressor, 79 per cent expressed disagreement, 7 per cent favored such condemnation, and 14 per cent were not sure. A Harris poll in July found that 70 per cent of respondents favored having Jerusalem under international control, 10 per cent supported Israel's return-
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The Arab-Israel War of 1967
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Middle East Israel A ALL aspects of
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ISRAEL / 117 into Israel and take a
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ISRAEL / 119 Hassanin Heikal, edito
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ISRAEL / 121 Israeli paratroopers b
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ISRAEL / 123 Interior Minister Mose
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ISRAEL / 125 would be allowed to re
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ISRAEL / 127 exercising its undimin
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ISRAEL / 129 States ending the stat
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Jews in Arab Countries Aftermath of
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JEWS IN ARAB COUNTRIES / 133 JEWISH
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JEWS IN ARAB COUNTRIES / 135 One ma
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JEWS IN ARAB COUNTRIES / 137 accoun
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JEWS IN ARAB COUNTRIES / 139 police
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JEWS IN ARAB COUNTRIES / 141 privat
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JEWS IN ARAB COUNTRIES / 143 during
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International Politics United State
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Page 77 and 78: COMMUNIST BLOC / 189 official Mosco
Page 79 and 80: COMMUNIST BLOC / 191 aganda machine
Page 81 and 82: COMMUNIST BLOC / 193 in the communa
Page 83 and 84: COMMUNIST BLOC / 195 emphasis. A mo
Page 85: COMMUNIST BLOC / 197 a more moderat
Page 89 and 90: AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION / 201 The N
Page 91 and 92: AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION / 203 of Aq
Page 93 and 94: AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION / 205 Ameri
Page 95 and 96: AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION / 207 gave
Page 97 and 98: AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION / 209 tribu
Page 99 and 100: AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION / 211 days
Page 101 and 102: AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION / 213 hand,
Page 103 and 104: AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION / 215 of th
Page 105 and 106: AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION / 217 I got
Page 107 and 108: Official Church Responses AMERICAN
Page 109 and 110: AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION / 221 Bisho
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Page 113 and 114: AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION / 225 by de
Page 115 and 116: AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION / 227 Sever
Page 117: AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION / 229 siste
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