WASHINGTON -
Most Americans believe the United
States should halt or reduce economic and military aid to
Israel if Prime Minister Ariel Sharon does not immediately
withdraw troops from Palestinian areas, according to a Time
Magazine/CNN poll released on Friday.
The poll of 1,003 adults also found most Americans back
Secretary of State Colin Powell's Mideast peace mission,
although they expect few results and consider Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat a "terrorist" and an enemy of the U.S.
The public opinion sampling was conducted on Wednesday and
Thursday, before Powell arrived in Israel on Friday, when a
suicide bomber killed six people outside a Jerusalem market.
Sharon has rejected repeated direct calls by President Bush to withdraw troops from Palestinian areas, prompting some
critics to raise the possibility of sanctions.
But the administration has made clear it has no plans to
threaten key ally Israel with a cut in its $3 billion in annual
aid. Even if it did, a strongly pro-Israel U.S. Congress likely
would oppose the move.
The Time/CNN poll found that 60 percent of Americans
favored the aid cut off if an Israeli troop withdrawal does not
take place immediately.
An even larger number -- 75 percent -- think Powell's
Mideast trip is a good idea but only 21 percent of the
respondents believe major progress toward peace will result.
As for Arafat, 59 percent of Americans consider him an
enemy of the United States, 62 percent think he's a terrorist
and 90 percent believe he cannot be trusted, according to the
poll.
Sharon's standing is better. One quarter of the respondents
consider him an enemy of the United States, 20 percent say he
is a terrorist and 65 percent do not trust him.
The poll found that 65 percent of Americans think Bush is
doing a good job handling foreign policy, a significant decline
from the 80 percent favorable rating he had in December 2001,
three months after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Fear of terrorism has declined. Last September, 45 percent
of the poll respondents identified terrorism as the main
problem facing the United States. That number declined to 25
percent in December and 21 percent this week.
The poll was conducted by Harris Interactive and has a
margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limited
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