Poll: Only 12 percent of Israelis believe Obama supports Israel

Only 12 percent of Israelis believe U.S. President Barack Obama's policies are supportive of Israel, according to a poll released on Thursday.

The poll was conducted jointly by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Police and Survey Research and the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It was conducted between August 9 and 15.

The poll also found that 64 per cent of Palestinians still feel Obama's policy is more supportive of Israel, while 40 per cent of Israelis think it is more support of the Palestinians.

The poll's margin of error was 3 per cent.

According to the poll, a majority of Israelis were unhappy with the results of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah conference which ended Saturday, according to a joint Palestinian-Israeli poll published Thursday.

The poll found that 59 per cent of Israelis believe that in the light of the resolutions taken by the Fatah conference, Israel does not have a partner for peace negotiations.

While the Fatah conference said that resistance remains a legitimate option to liberate the occupied Palestinian territories, it nevertheless said that it gives full support for negotiations to resolve the decades-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Negotiations came to a halt following the election of a right-wing government in Israel headed by Benjamin Netanyahu. Palestinians demand a halt to Israeli settlement activities in the occupied territories and an acceptance of the two-state solution before negotiations can resume.

The United States Barack Obama Administration has been working with both sides to find common ground for resumption of negotiations.

It called on Israel to freeze construction in the settlements, including for the so-called reasons of natural growth, while calling on the Palestinians and Arabs to take confidence-building steps toward Israel.

Nevertheless, neither Palestinians nor Israelis interviewed for the poll have confidence in the U.S. policy in spite of its intensive involvement in the Middle East conflict.