Biden’s approval ratings drop because he did not criticize Israel for attack on Gaza – Telhami – Mondoweiss

[ad_1]

Joe Biden took a hit of public approval because he was not more critical of Israel during the Gaza conflict in May that killed 256 Palestinians and 13 Israelis, says political scientist Shibley Telhami.

Biden’s numbers fell because Democrats were disappointed with Biden. Telhami says the Democratic base is rapidly evolving towards greater sympathy for Palestinians, fueled by young people, and these attitudes are starting to show up in political races.

Telhami, who is affiliated with the University of Maryland and the Brookings Institution, discussed her poll last week with Ori Nir of Americans for Peace Now (transcript here; Youtube video here). He said the Democratic base was angry with Israel’s destruction of Gaza and its expulsions of Palestinians from East Jerusalem, and Biden did not reflect those views.

During the Gaza war, when President Biden did not criticize the bombing that caused enormous civilian casualties in Gaza, or even the Israeli plan to evict Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem, he had a lot of of Democrats who were angry, including, you know, mainstream Democrats in Congress who said: You have to work to stop this… He found that even some of the allies of Congress in a highly polarized environment were somewhat critical of his. respect.

The poll shows more than a quarter of Democrats – 27.7% – disapprove of Biden’s handling of the war.

Keep in mind that when you look at Biden’s overall approval ratings, even though they have declined over the past two months, Democrats’ overall disapproval of his presidency has been less than 10%…. And so the fact that you have 27.7% is really huge.

This is because Democrats overwhelmingly blame Israel for the conflict.

Now, if you remember, the president himself blamed it, mostly on Hamas… and refused to directly criticize Israel and the Israeli action. But … when it comes to blaming the Israelis [or] The Palestinians directly… the blame is much more on Israel among Democrats than it is on the Palestinians… 34.8% to be more precise blame Israel and 8.1% blame the Palestinians.

It tells you the story right there. That’s what Biden was dealing with, when people didn’t understand why he wasn’t criticizing at least both sides. Why didn’t you blame Israel at all during this crisis?

The change is most dramatic among young Democrats. Telhami focused on two polls last year, showing Democrats under 35 have gone from a lean slightly more in favor of the Palestinians than Israel to an overwhelming majority on the Palestinian side.

“In August 2020, you had more… Young Democrats say they wanted to look more at Palestinians than Israel, 18.3 to 11.4.

“But look at the change that’s happened in a year – it’s now 34.5% versus 9.1% for Israel. This is almost four times the number of people who want to turn to [Palestine than toward] Israel. Now this is a change which, considering everything I have said earlier, is in all likelihood related to the war in Gaza.

“It is impossible to have this kind of change in a year…. [It] is the biggest change we have ever seen on this issue in a year. And that’s certainly the highest percentage of Democrats who want to lean squarely at the Palestinians we’ve ever captured.

This is even after the “change” of government adopted by the liberal Zionists in the United States.

“So even though Netanyahu, who was obviously hated by many Democrats, was irrelevant, and there was a feeling that, oh, there might be an alternative that will be closer to the Biden administration. , you always have this: that people are not buying that this change will change their view of Israel…

It all adds up to Biden taking a hit of approval on Israel.

I would even say that this question of Biden’s position on Gaza might have hurt him in his overall ratings. We know that over the past two months the President’s approval ratings have dropped to 49%, and that drop is almost entirely from Democrats…. Now, obviously, there are a lot of issues that this is the case with. Israel-Palestine may be a small part of it. But it certainly didn’t help. And there’s no doubt that we have evidence that it certainly hasn’t helped them, especially among the Young Democrats.

This goes hand in hand with data showing that by an overwhelming ratio, 43.7% to 8.5%, Democrats want to exert more pressure on Israel, including by refusing aid, than exert more pressure on Israel. the Palestinians.

Others have found the same result. The Gallup and Pew polls show that a majority of Democrats now want to pressure Israel. They are joined by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs poll released in August, showing that 62 to 32 Democrats support restricting military aid to Israel, and overall half of Americans take that position.

Telhami says the attitude is starting to be expressed by mainstream Democratic congressmen who know the whereabouts of their constituents. Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, he said, suggested “creating some kind of link” between aid and Israel’s human rights record.

“There has always been a gulf between elected officials, whether in the White House or Congress, and the public on Israel-Palestine, especially among Democrats. I’ve been documenting this for almost a decade…. [The] The Democratic public is increasingly critical of Israeli politics and wants the United States to be more equitable, and obviously elected officials are sticking to a position to the right of their constituencies on this matter. And the question is, in my ear that I’ve raised over the years, is that durability just going to shrink over time,

Pro-Palestinian sentiment is austere in the Democratic base.

“Almost twice as many Democrats want [the U.S.] lean towards the Palestinians than to want [the U.S.] lean towards Israel. 17.9% against 9.5%.

And two-thirds of Democrats say their elected officials “lean more toward Israel … than they are … They know their elected officials are on the right on this issue.”

Telhami went on to plot a surprisingly similar change among young evangelical Christians, “who may be drifting away from Israel.”

A survey from the University of North Carolina shows a “huge” decline in sympathy for Israel among evangelicals between the ages of 18 and 29. Their sympathies changed in three years, from 2018 to 2021 (before the Gaza war).

Big change… You can see the decline in sympathy with Israel drop from 69% to 33%. And sympathy for the Palestinians goes from 5% to 24%.

Part of this change can be explained by demographics: the fact that among young evangelicals, a majority are now an ethnically / racially minority.

Telhami says he doesn’t know how much the change in rhetoric affects politics.

Israel-Palestine is not a priority issue for most Americans. And this is what keeps politicians from feeling the heat on this issue….

Obviously, even people who are angry with politicians on this issue will not necessarily vote on this basis. And yet, I think we have already seen that this had an impact on the electoral process. It had an impact on the primaries, where many, you know, the politicians in the Democratic primaries have shown that in fact you can turn some criticism of Israeli policies into an advantage rather than a detriment in electoral politics – you. have seen him several times over the past two elected election cycles.

He said the change is reflected in social media and the mainstream media is “catching up, so to speak”.

The New York Times… making the front pages of children… victims of [Gaza] war. It’s not something we’ve seen before, in the mainstream media. I mean, it was pretty amazing.

He also referred to expert surveys showing that the destruction of the two-state solution fosters “apartheid” discourse on the left. Last February, Telhami and Marc Lynch conducted a survey of more than 500 academics from the Middle East who are members of the American Political Science Association and / or the Middle East Studies Association.

When you ask them, how would you describe Israel Palestine now?… 55 percent say Israel / Palestine is now a one state, apartheid-like reality. That tells you it’s not just a matter of politics, is it. It is about the entrenchment of the occupation after half a century with no end in sight, which people simply find absolutely unacceptable, people who focus on the issue of social justice.

I’m taking this group, because I think, you know, of course, that it won’t represent American public opinion or even the world academic period. But these people are following the issue closely. And they tend to be quite ahead of a change. And so I think there’s something deeper going on.

The question is whether this will have an impact on politics or not. It is not if this is happening. It’s happening.

So where are the Palestinian voices in the mainstream media?

Mondoweiss covers the entire struggle for justice in Palestine. Read by tens of thousands of people each month, our truth journalism is an essential counterweight to the propaganda that passes for news in mainstream and traditional media.

Our news and analyzes are accessible to everyone, which is why we need your support. Please contribute so that we can continue to make the voices heard of those who defend the rights of Palestinians to live in dignity and peace.

Palestinians today are fighting for their lives as the mainstream media turns away. Please support journalism that amplifies urgent voices calling for freedom and justice in Palestine.

[ad_2]