Forty-nine percent of U.S. voters believe the activists on the Gaza-bound ships raided by Israeli commandos are to blame for the deaths in the incident last week.
A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 19% of U.S. voters think Israel is to blame. Thirty-two percent (32%) are undecided.
However, 51% said Israel should allow an international investigation of the incident. Twenty-five percent agree with the Israeli government and reject the idea of an international probe, while another 24% are undecided.
Forty nine percent of U.S. voters agreed that, generally speaking, most countries are too critical of Israel. Twenty-one percent said most countries are not critical enough. Seventeen percent said neither.
The survey of 1,000 Likely U.S. Voters was conducted on June 3-4, before all of the evidence regarding the assault and attempted abduction of the soldiers on the ship Mavi Marmara was released. It is possible that if a similar poll were held today, support for Israel would have been even greater.