The latest Gallup poll surveying American attitudes towards Israel was released Monday and reveals that 70% of Americans view Israel favorably. Gallup placed these numbers in context of previous polling, noting:

These attitudes, from Gallup’s Feb. 8-11 World Affairs survey, are unchanged from a year ago, suggesting that neither the evident friction between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, nor the 50-day conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip last year, greatly affected how each is perceived in the U.S.

In fact, Israel’s public image in the U.S. has been fairly strong since 2005, with an average 68% of Americans viewing it favorably. But from 2000 to 2004, when hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians were running high, its favorable score averaged 60%. Prior to that, Israel’s favorable rating was even more volatile, reflecting other Mideast events, including the 1991 Gulf War, when positive views of Israel soared after that country suffered Iraqi rocket attacks.

Notably, 62% of the Americans polled favor Israel, while only 16% favor the Palestinians.

The Jerusalem Post adds:

Israel’s favorability rate now is significantly higher than it was in 1991, when tension was high between then US president George Bush and prime minister Yitzhak Shamir. At that point, only 47% of the public said they had a favorable view of Israel.

Last summer, a survey by Pew also indicated strong public support for Israel.

According to another recent Gallup poll, 77% of Americans view a nuclear Iran as a “critical threat” to the United States.

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