The same Harvard/Harris poll that I wrote about here also asked respondents their views about events in the Middle East. From the Harvard/Harris press release:
Support for Israel over Hamas in the conflict remains high, with 77% of voters supporting Israel.
I should hope so! But 23% of respondents say they support Hamas:
That 23% must be, what? College students on “elite” campuses? There aren’t enough of them. Liberals under the sway of the New York Times or the Washington Post? I’m not sure even those left-wing rags are actually pro-Hamas. Psycho killers? Again, too small a slice of the population. In any event, I am inclined to say that those 23% should have their citizenship revoked and be deported to Gaza.
Speaking of Gaza:
* 54% of voters support Trump’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict thus far.
* 67% of voters have heard of Trump’s proposal that the U.S. should take over Gaza to redevelop it. 47% of voters believe Trump was being serious, and 53% believe he was posturing to start negotiations.
* 70% of voters believe the U.S. taking over Gaza is a bad idea. 56% of voters oppose removing Palestinians from Gaza to rebuild the territory.
Interesting that a little over half assume that Trump wasn’t being entirely serious. And it is easy to understand why most people would rather not take over the hellhole of Gaza. But, as Marco Rubio has said, at the moment Trump’s proposal is the only one on the table. Liberals? Europeans? Saudis? Bueller? I don’t think Trump is serious either, but better ideas are in short supply. And I certainly don’t want to spend billions of our dollars to give the Gazans, pretty much all of whom have proven to be despicable or worse, a decent place to live.
Finally, Americans understand the danger posed by Iran:
* 76% of voters say Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities should be destroyed. 57% of voters say the U.S. should support Israel in airstrikes on such facilities.
I’m not sure what the remaining 19% want. Air strikes by the U.S. Air Force? Or do they want the Israelis to do it without us? I suppose the latter. Why take responsibility if you don’t have to?
Anyway, these results could be worse. They indicate that a large majority of Americans haven’t gone completely over the homicidal edge. These days, that is something to be grateful for.
