19/06/2009 A new poll conducted by the Jerusalem Post-sponsored Smith Research poll, published Friday, shows only 6 percent of Israelis see US President Barack Obama's administration as pro-Israel, while 50 percent see it as pro-Palestinian.
 
That is a dramatic change from the previous U.S. administration of George W. Bush, which 88 percent termed "pro-Israel" and just 2 percent labeled pro-Palestinian.
 
Many Israelis reject Obama's call for a total settlement freeze and have come to see him as overly sympathetic to Palestinian claims.
 
The poll, taken after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said for the first time he supported a demilitarized Palestinian state, found 36 percent of respondents viewed Obama as neutral.
 
Netanyahu's advisers and aides offered varying explanations for Israelis' negative view of Obama, ranging from blaming the media for focusing on the perception of strained relations between Washington and Tel Aviv to the belief that Obama faulted Israel for the lack of peace in the Middle East.
 
Last week, Israeli daily Haaretz reported that the Israeli prime minister believes Obama wants to create a confrontation with Israel to help him improve relations with the Arab world, aides said.
 
In Cairo, Obama called for a "new beginning" between the United States and Muslim countries. In the speech, he called the long-standing U.S.-Israel alliance "unbreakable" but stepped up pressure on Israel's leadership to follow U.S. terms for a “roadmap to peace”.
 
A previous poll taken merely one month ago, found only 14 percent saw the Obama administration as pro-Palestinian while 31 percent viewed it pro-Israeli. The large shift in perspective points to a strong reaction from the Israeli public after the US president's speech to the Muslim world.