Recent polls show that the American public largely supports Israel. A Fox News Network survey this week showed that some 58% of Americans now believe that PLO leader Yasser Arafat is a terrorist - up seven points from a similar poll conducted last week. The poll also shows that over 50% of Americans feel that the Palestinians are responsible for worsening the violence in the Middle East.
Similarly, a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released yesterday shows that more than half of Americans view the Israeli military incursions against Palestinian locations as \"legitimate acts of war.\" Fewer than half of those polled believe that US President Bush has a clear policy on the Mideast conflict. \"Israel fared better in the poll than did the Palestinians or their leader,\" CNN reported today, noting that \"7 of 10 of Americans polled described the Palestinian suicide bombings as terrorism,\" and that nearly 60% said that Arafat is an \"enemy of the United States.\" Although sympathy for Israel has gone up significantly since early March, according to CNN, 39% described Israel\'s anti-terror offensive as terrorism. Some 56% of Americans feel that U.S. support for Israel is \"about right\" (46%) or \"too little\" (10%), while 35% said it was too much.