Two-thirds of Israelis oppose attack on Iran: poll

[sabra]

Source: AFP

JERUSALEM (AFP) — Two-thirds of Israelis oppose their country launching on its own a military attack against nuclear installations in arch-foe Iran, said a poll published on Thursday.

When asked "should Israel alone attack the Iranian nuclear installations," 67.2 percent said no, while 20.9 percent said yes and 11.9 percent had no opinion, said the survey aired on public radio.

The poll questioned people after the publication of a bombshell intelligence report in the United States earlier in the week, which said Tehran had frozen its atomic weapons programme in 2003.

Israel has vowed to keep up its diplomatic offensive against Iran's contested nuclear programme despite the report, saying it believes Tehran has probably restarted an atomic weapons programme.

Read more: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iHSNqst2EKZ8lnhNnGYCHDEHNpwg

[liberalhistorian]

1. Of course they'd feel this way! They want US

to do it for them so they don't have to!

[Tempest]

2. Not necessarily true

A majority of Israelis were against the Iraq war as well.

This is just another example of a government out of touch with its people.

[Bicoastal]

3. I hate it when some people (not post #1)...

..hate on average Israelis for their government's actions, then turn around and say "Don't you dare blame ME for Bush--I didn't vote for the guy!"

Right now, the countries really are two of a kind.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

6. Yeah, I agree. Both the US and Israeli gov'ts don't represent the people.

However, Israel has continually elected the people that diverge from their interests, so it's hard not to find some culpability. We'll see in the next election if that is the case for the US.

[JBoy]

9. And for the record, the current Canadian government

doesn't represent the majority of people in Canada either.

[disndat]

4. Logic would dictate

that most Israelis would be against attacking Iran, as Israel would be at the first line of defense. Only the war profiteers in the U.S. want war with Iran and a permanent U.S. presence in the Mideast.

[AntiFascist]

18. Very important point!

This only goes to demonstrate that those who argue that not taking an aggressive stance against Ahmadinajad is against the best interests of Israel are WRONG! I would wager that most of the people in Iran and Israel want to live in peace. It is only the war mongering, religious extremist leaders in the US, Israel, and Iran who want to stir things up. In time of war, the leaders will not suffer, it will be the people. Meanwhile, the war profiteers and those who crave power make out like bandits.

[fujiyama]

15. Any evidence of that?

According to one poll a narrow majority of Americans FAVORED attacking Iran, so it looks like many Americans would be more than willing to go to war.

Rather than blaming Israelis, we should look at our own people first, many of whom have bought the "Iran wants nukes" propaganda. Hopefully this report that came up will shut these rabid idiots up.

[fascisthunter]

5. The Israeli People are not the Problem

it's their tone deaf government, just like ours.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

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[MetaTrope]

7. I really have to wonder about these "journalists" sometimes

If a reader is just skimming the story or semiliterate, how are they going to come away perceiving "a bombshell intelligence report"?

[Algorem]

8. this won't be on network news tonight.

[rockybelt]

10. So do the people in the US

So? You think just because the vast majority of people do not want this that it is not going to happen?

We the people do not decide what happens, the "deciders" will do that for us as we are a bunch of stupid, cowardly morons who don't care about the security of the United States. Now get in line people and let the supreme "deciders" do what they must!:sarcasm:

[boricua79]

12. now THIS is surprising

I would have thought the Israeli people would be very gung-ho on Iran, given that they've suffered the blunt of Islamic hatred in the region.

Hooray for humanity, i guess...

[Spazito]

13. I am not surprised at all....

The Israeli people have had their government taken over by the same strain of neocons as has taken over the US government, imo.

Their government is NOT representing the majority in their hard-line, just like in the US.

[DLnyc]

14. neocon criminal fanatic power-crazed paranoid lunatics, to be more precise.

If the majority thought like that, we'd all be dead, I think.

[mogster]

16. I agree, that is a good assumption

:hi: It's a wider scope, and in some countries the takeover isn't even by people in govt., but a result of convergence of interests in the private sector, propagated by the(ir) media.

[eridani]

17. I imagine that their government will pay about as much attention to them--

--as our government pays to us.

[autorank]

19. Thanks. This is so helpful. K*R

Israel has always had a vibrant debate regardless of the percentages.

That's impressive period, the passion for debate and understanding. It's all the more significant
given the huge pressures there concerning immediate life and death issues.

This sounds about right to me and it's great news.