A new poll has revealed that over two thirds of the Israeli public believe Donald Trump’s policies are bad for Israel as a rift between the US and one of its closest allies deepens.
Data shared with The Independent and collated by research institute Agam Labs in partnership with the Hebrew University, comes amid ongoing US-Iran negotiations with Israel’s military operations in Lebanon a key sticking point in discussions.
After weeks of reported tensions, Trump has repeatedly insisted that his relationship with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “good”.
Last month the US president remarked that he could run for prime minister of the country and claimed to boast a “99 per cent” approval rating.
But the new figures paint a strikingly different picture.
According to the data, 67 per cent of the Israeli public believe that Trump’s policies are bad for Israel including 28 per cent who say they are very bad. Only 8 per cent believe that his policies are good or very good for Israel, while 25 per cent believe his policies are neither good nor bad.
Likewise, 72 per cent of Israelis believe the current US administration’s conduct is harming the strategic relationship between the US and Israel, compared with only 6 per cent of people who believe that the relationship is improving.
In addition, 55 per cent are not confident in continued US military support for Israel while 45 per cent are somewhat confident or very confident.
The split appears to follow comments made last week by vice president JD Vance as a reminder to Israel of its dependence on the US.
Vance said that Trump “is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time” and warned that were he in Israel’s government, he “might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world”.
“The other thing that I would say is that over the last three months, two-thirds of the defensive weapons that have protected your homeland have been built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars,” he added.
However, despite the negative picture, a majority still believe that Trump is better for Israel than former president Joe Biden with 59 per cent saying that Trump is better compared with only 10 per cent who believe that Biden is better. But 31 per cent believe there is no difference between them.
The new report also continues to paint a picture of Israeli dissatisfaction with Netanyahu with 73 per cent of respondents stating that they do not believe his claims about the campaign with Iran and Lebanon.
However, a majority still supports military action against Hezbollah with 55 per cent supporting renewed significant Israeli action including in Beirut.
The survey follows a poll last week that indicated that 92 per cent of the Israeli public believe that Iran has won the war.
The survey was conducted between 20 June and 25 June among a sample of 1,100 Israelis.
Earlier this week Netanyahu had said that he “did not ask for permission” from Trump or the US to attack Lebanon. “I simply informed him of our plan,” he said.
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