Obama’s Popularity Tanks in ’Israel’

Local Editor

The number of "Israelis" who have expressed confidence in US President Barack Obama had dropped significantly over the past year, a new poll shows.

Last year, 71 percent of "Israelis" said they had confidence in Obama, compared to just 49 percent this year, according to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center.

Over the past year, the Pew Research Center has interviewed thousands of people from some 40 countries on a host of topics, including how they view the United States and its president.

Further, Obama had had many highly-publicized disagreements with Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the nuclear talks with Iran.

The "Israeli" premier had been pressing US congressional lawmakers hard in a bid to derail the ongoing negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries.

In an address to both chambers of Congress early in March, Netanyahu warned US lawmakers that the Obama administration was negotiating "a very bad deal" with Iran.

Moreover, Obama did not personally meet with Netanyahu while he was visiting Washington, a move that many observers saw as a snub to the prime minister.

Another country where Obama's popularity had plummeted is Russia, according to the poll.

The percentage of Russians who said they have confidence in Obama has dropped from 29 percent two years ago to just 11 percent this year.

Meanwhile, US relations with Russia had deteriorated to their lowest levels since the Cold War over the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

Washington accuses Moscow of destabilizing Ukraine by supporting pro-Russia forces in the eastern regions. The Kremlin, however, denies the allegations.

The US and its European allies had imposed several rounds of harsh sanctions against Russia.

Overall, the Pew survey had found that people in other countries had higher levels of confidence in Obama than Americans do.

An average of 65 percent of people surveyed said they believe Obama will "do the right thing regarding world affairs," slightly more than the percentage of Americans [58 percent], who feel the same way.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team