Chaim Herzog (Israel's current president) made a telling comment in 1975 about the Arab-Israeli conflict: "The main battlefield now is the theater of opinion in the United States." While Gilboa does not explicitly say so, he clearly believes this statement to be true — thus his very detailed treatment, which includes virtually every study of American public opinion ever conducted on the matter of the Arabs and Israel.
He shows that Americans have long favored Israel's cause. As early as November 1945, 42 percent of them supported the creation of a Jewish state; only 17 percent opposed it. The peak of Israel's popularity came in 1967; one poll taken during the Six Day War showed 41 percent sympathetic to Israel and but 1 percent to the Arabs.
Gilboa, a lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, concludes from these data, first, that Americans have consistently sympathized more with Israel than with the Arabs. Second, Americans approve of Israel's goals more than they do its means. Third, with only a few exceptions, decreases in pro-Israel attitudes have not implied increases in pro-Arab attitudes. Fourth, the informed public views Israel more favorably than does the general public. Finally, Gilboa suggests that popular American support for Israel is not diminishing over time but remains the stable basis of an enduring relationship.
