Israelis trust US to keep Jews safe, but wary of Obama signing bad deal with Iran

78% of Israelis are happy that Arab parties have united for the coming elections, the monthly Peace Index poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University finds.

58% of the Jewish public state that a government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu is better suited to deal with Israel’s security issues, while 27% state that a government headed by Tzipi Livni and Isaac Herzog is better suited. Among Arab respondents, 48% state that a government headed by Livni and Herzog is better suited to deal with Israel’s security issues, while 26% state that a government headed by Netanyahu is better suited.

In a survey covering a wide range of issues, 61% of Jewish respondents interestingly say there is a high chance that Obama will approve the signing of an agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue even if Israel’s government makes clear that, in its view, the agreement endangers Israeli security; 29% of Jewish Israelis believe there is a low chance that Obama would approve the signing of an agreement under those conditions.

However, Israeli Jews trust the government of the United States more than any other to keep Jews safe (84%). After the US come Germany (60%) and Britain (49%). Israeli Jews do not trust the governments of Russia (70%), Argentina (68%), and France (60%) to take relevant steps to protect their Jewish citizens.

The survey was conducted on January 27-29 with 600 respondents and has a 4.1% margin of error.