Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney leads President Barack Obama by a whopping 35 percentage points among Israeli Jews when it comes to who they think will best look out for Israel’s interests, according to a new poll from
Tel Aviv University/Israel Democracy Institute.
The tally was 57 to 22 percent.
“This preference well reflects the Jewish public’s prevalent right-wing tendency in the foreign and defense sphere,” according to an analysis accompanying the poll.
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About 55 percent of respondents describe themselves as right or moderate right, 30 percent as center, and only 15 percent as left or moderate left.
Among those on the right, 70 percent choose Romney and only 13 percent opt for Obama. Even among the center, Romney leads 54 percent to 25 percent. Obama leads among the left 51 to 30 percent.
As for, Israeli Arabs, 45 percent say Obama would better look out for Israel’s interests, while 15 percent say it’s Romney. The remaining 40 percent have no clear opinion.
With elections coming up Jan. 22 in Israel, 69 percent of Jewish respondents believe the U.S. election results won’t influence their own. But 51 percent of Arab Israelis believe they will.