The War in Lebanon

Juan Cole notes an interesting Zogby poll today. The headline result shows the US public dubious about the government's support of Israel:

Americans were split as to whether current U.S. policy is as fair with the government in Lebanon as it is with Israel – 35% agreed the U.S. was equally fair to both nations, while 37% said the U.S. favored Israel. Another 28% said they were not sure.

Israel and Hezbollah had been fighting for nearly a month before an agreement on a cease–fire was struck and went into effect earlier this week.

Overall, Do you agree or disagree that U.S. policy is as fair with the democratic government of Lebanon as it is with the democratic government of Israel?

The poll found a clear majority favoring US neutrality, and suggested that the perception that the US favored Israel--certainly a correct perception--indicates that the government is out of step with the people. I wouldn't disagree.

On the other hand, no one surveyed thought that the US should take Hizbollah's side. This is the most significant finding, I think. A majority of the population wants the US to stay out of, well, the rest of the world, as much as possible, except when threatened or when selling cars, movies, hamburgers, or Jesus Christ. That there's still a large segment that wants the US to support Israel in this war indicates relatively strong backing. And of course the votecounters know that the pro-Israel public will vote on their preference, whereas the others won't. One reason why no politician will try to appeal to the anti-Israel public is because the one that exists, such as it is, will not pay back at election time. As I suggested previously, this is a case in which partisanism restricts the range of public deliberation.