A recent Pew Research poll indicates an overwhelming divide between American Republicans and Democrats over perceptions of the importance of the US-Israel relationship. The poll primarily dealt with comparing American and German perceptions of one another, but also touched tangentially on American perceptions of other countries. According to the poll, 12% of Americans said that Israel was the “first or second most important partner for American foreign policy.” Israel tied in third place with Germany, also at 12%, coming behind China at 24% and chart topper Great Britain at 33%. Dividing responses to the same question along party lines, the poll found that 24% of Republicans found Israel to be a top foreign policy partner out of eight countries listed, in second place behind Great Britain at 42% and ahead of China at 18%. Russia closed the list for Republicans, at 5%. On the other hand, Israel did not make the eight-country list for Democrats, for whom Great Britain topped the list at 32%, China came in second at 26%, and Canada closed the list at 6%. A Pew poll published at the beginning of the year indicated that 79% of Republicans defined themselves as pro-Israel while 6% said they were pro-Palestinian. In contrast, 27% of Democrats said they were pro-Israel and 25% pro-Palestinian.
