Poll: More Israelis viewing Obama favorably, though trust is an issue

More Israelis are seeing the U.S. president as friendly toward the Jewish state, but still many don’t trust him, according to a new poll.

The poll released March 18, two days before President Barack Obama’s visit, found that 36.5 percent of the 600 Jewish Israelis surveyed view Obama as friendly toward Israel, compared with the 29 percent who felt that way a year ago.

Fifty-one percent of the respondents said he is neutral toward Israel, with 10 percent considering him hostile to the nation.

Meanwhile, 40 percent of the respondents said they “do not trust” Obama very much and 13.5 percent said they do not trust him at all to consider Israel’s interests.

The poll, conducted March 11-14 by the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University, has a margin of error of 4.5 percent. — jta