Majority of Americans Want Equal Treatment for Israel, Palestinians but Sympathize More with Israel

A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll [2]asked Americans for their thoughts on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (page 20). While 31 percent responded that the U.S. should favor Israel over the Palestinians, 55 percent said that the U.S. should "treat both the same." Only four percent wanted to favor the Palestinians over the Israelis.

A related question asked which nation Americans sympathized with: 45 percent said Israel, 13 percent said the Palestinians and 19 percent said neither. Sympathy for Israel stood at 48 percent in 2002 and climbed to 61 percent in 2010, according to the survey.