those who support both sides or neither side, while
most African Americans, college students and regis-
tered voters- say they support neither side.
When pressed, opinion leaders — whom the
strategists consider the most important group,
because of their influence — say they have moved
from supporting Israel toward sympathizing with the
Palestinians, from 14 percent to 28 percent, in
recent months.
Though these opinion elites call Israel a key U.S.
ally, they also believe that Israel is blocking efforts
toward peace and want the United States to pressure
Israel to negotiate a peace deal.
Asked whether Israel or the Palestinians are
"morally right" in the conflict, 54-percent of opin-
ion leaders said "bOth" or "neither," while only 34
percent chose Israel.
Asked where their sympathies lie, 42 percent of
opinion leaders did not choose any side, while 41
percent said Israel.
Perhaps more troubling, African Americans, col-
lege students and registered voters tend to be more
negative about Israel. Only 37 percent support U.S.
military intervention if Israel is attacked, compared
to 65 percent among opinion leaders.
Just less than 50 percent of respondents say they think
Israel wants peace. Only 34 percent call Israel morally
right and just 27 percent see Israel as the victim.
"We cannot take much satisfaction in the fact that
the Palestinians score even lower on these,key meas-
ures," Greenberg notes in his memo.
Palestinian propaganda, together with news
reporting that suggests a moral equivalence between
the sides, may have failed in building support for
the Palestinians, but it has undermined support for
Israel, the study suggests.
While the opinion leaders believe the Palestinians
are mainly responsible for Mideasr -violence, more
than 40 percent see Israel as an obstacle to peace, 36
percent say Israel is acting like terrorists itself, and
half say Israel is illegally occupying Palestinian land.
Among the other groups, the perception is worse.
The notion that Israel has become like the Palestinian
terrorists rises to 40 percent among African
Americans, 45 percent among college students and 47
percent among Washington-area opinion leaders.
Israel "Provocations"
Most of those surveyed also agree that Isrneli sPttle-
Israelis Back PR Game Plan
LESLIE SUSSER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Jerusalem
sraeli officials are notorious-
ly loath to learn from out-
siders, but they have been
deeply impressed by an American
study of Israel's public relations
needs in the United States, and
say they intend to carry out most
of the recommendations.
Among them: be less con-
frontational and more hopeful in
television appearances; don't
trash Palestinian Authority leader
Yasser Arafat or the Palestinian
people; and, whenever possible,
stress Israel's desire for peace, its
vibrant democracy and the values
it shares with America.
Steven Cohen, a professor at
the Melton Centre at Hebrew
University, puts the strategy this
ments, the "occupation" and military actions are
provoking "new Palestinian grievances and a new
generation of potential terrorists who will eventually
strike the United States."
Ambivalence cuts across party lines. Only 36 per-
cent of Democrats, 37 percent of moderate
Republicans and 35 percent of independents back
Israel in the conflict.
Israel's strongest support comes from conservative
Republicans: 68 percent. The pollsters say this group
backs Israel largely because it supports President
George W. Bush's anti-terror stance and because of
its fundamentalist Christian beliefs.
While only one-fourth of the general public says
Israel is morally right in the conflict, 60 percent of
conservative Republicans think so.
According to the pollsters, three basic messages
helped swing respondents back toward supporting
Israel:
• Israel remains the only Mideast democracy, it
shares the United States' democratic values and it is
DEALER ANNOUNCES•
SUPER SALE
VOLVOS IN STOCK
way: "When you're speaking for
Israel, say the word 'peace' four
times, like the other side says
`occupation' four times."
Gidon Meir, the deputy direc-
tor general of Israel's Foreign
Ministry, said, "I have been work-
ing in this job for two years now
and I say this is a huge contribu-
tion, because it gives us a quality
of feedback we have never had
before. It will enable us to build a
more professional campaign."
Until now, Israel has not been
able to afford the professionals
who could give it this kind of
advice, Meir said. His annual pub-
lic relations budget at the Foreign
Ministry is $9 million, and last
year he turned down an offer for
similar research because he could
not afford the $1.2 million cost.
Already, Meir said, his ministry is
reshaping the way it packages Israeli
government policies to the media.
"We are discussing the suffer-
ing of the Palestinians, the
shared values of democracy, the
fight against terror," Meir said.
"And we are always emphasizing
the light at the end of the tun-
nel. Even after a major terror
attack, we are asking, Are the
Palestinians better off now than
they were two years ago"' before
the intifada (uprising) began?
But Israeli officials balk at
stopping their negative campaign
against Arafat. They point out
that discrediting Arafat is not
just a PR gambit, but a central
element of Israeli policy.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon,
they say, really believes that as
long as Arafat is around there is
no chance of peace with the
Palestinians, and that Israel's biggest
foreign policy success since the
intifada began two years ago has
been convincing the Bush admin-
istration that Arafat must go. ❑
on the front lines of the war against terror;
• Israel has made and is willing to make major
concessions for peace;
• Only a courageous Palestinian leader who choos-
es non-violence over terror can make peace and
obtain an independent Palestinian state.
Those themes clearly resonated with the American
public in the Washington cable TV ads.
After hearing those messages, a clear majority of
opinion leaders — 55 percent — went from opting
out of the conflict to backing Israel. At the same
time, those who equated Israel and the Palestinians
dropped to 32 percent.
"I am struck by the extent to which American
support for Israel is based upon the image of Israel
functioning as a true democracy, which it deserves,"
Cohen said.
"The lesson for Israel is to preserve the democratic
character, preserve human rights and the judicial
process," he said, adding that American Jews should
underscore those characteristics of Israel. ❑
_
ALL NEW 2002
C70 COUPE
IMMEDIATE DELIVERY
39 MONTH LEASE
Pff."."L R
SUBARU
15 44.k/41 k Rd
14 Mk
13 Me
1.96
•XC WAGONS
•S60s
LOW
AS
13
roo.
*39,000 miles, 204 per mile for overage. 5575.00
refundabfe security deposit. Plus tax, title &
license. 51,645 due at delivery. MSRP 538,150.
Offer ends 8130/02.
8/23
2002
19