Israelis increasingly view US President Barack Obama as pro-Palestinian as Washington has begun ramping up pressure on the Jewish state to halt settlement growth, a poll found.
Only six percent of Israelis view the newly elected president as pro-Israel, while 50 percent believe he is pro-Palestinian and 36 percent see him as neutral, according to the poll published in the Jerusalem Post.
The same poll conducted in May before Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's first meeting found that 31 percent of Israelis viewed Obama as pro-Israel and only 14 percent saw him as pro-Palestinian.
In the month between the two surveys Obama gave a major address in Cairo in which he called on Israel's right-wing government to halt all settlement growth in the occupied West Bank and accept the principle of a two-state solution.
The blunt language from Israel's most important ally has raised concerns among Israelis that Obama may distance himself from the Jewish state to improve relations with Arabs and Muslims.
The poll found that more than 50 percent of Israelis support removing wildcat "outpost" settlements that are considered illegal under Israeli law and freezing the growth of smaller, far-flung settlements.
But 69 percent of Israelis are against freezing the growth of major built-up settlement blocs, with only 27 percent in favour and four percent expressing no opinion.
Obama has called on Israel to halt all settlement activity and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has said he will not hold peace talks until that happens.
Some 430,000 Israeli Jews live in more than 100 settlements scattered across the West Bank, including annexed Arab east Jerusalem. Their fate has been a core issue in previous rounds of negotiations.
The poll by the Jerusalem Post and Smith Research surveyed 500 Israeli Jews, who make up 80 percent of the population, and had a margin of error of 4.5 percent.
Front Page Features