U.S.-Israel Poll : Israelis More Favorable to Iran Dealings

Israelis are far more supportive than Americans of President Reagan’s secret dealings with Iran and believe Israel became involved primarily to help the United States, according to a Los Angeles Times Poll conducted jointly with the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

But Americans--who are strongly critical of any contacts with the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini regime--are suspicious of Tel Aviv’s motives in serving as a middleman in the deal, and 38% believe that Congress should cut back aid to Israel as a result. More than one in three Americans disapprove of Israel’s role.

Largest Israeli Daily

The survey was conducted Dec. 6-9 with Times Poll Director I. A. Lewis questioning a cross section of 1,800 Americans and Yedioth Ahronoth contacting 798 Israelis. Yedioth Ahronoth, the largest daily in Israel, is considered middle-of-the-road politically.

Lewis pointed out that in a Times-Economist poll published Sunday, Americans’, Britons’ and West Germans’ perceptions of foreign affairs and the Iranian affair were remarkably similar statistically. This survey, however, reflected much divergence of American and Israeli opinion.

Nearly half the Israelis polled supported Reagan’s contacts with the Iranians and approved their own government’s role in the affair. In contrast, only 22% of the Americans supported Reagan’s contacts and 38% of Americans disapproved of the Israeli role. Another one-fifth of Americans surveyed supported Israeli involvement and two-fifths had not reached a decision.

When asked why Israel got involved, twice as many Israelis (52%) as Americans (26%) said they believe that Tel Aviv’s motive was to help the United States. More than half of the American respondents believe that Israel’s intent was to provide cover for Israeli arms shipments, make a profit, win the release of Jewish hostages in Iran or encourage Iran and Iraq to destroy each other.

Published reports have identified Israel as a middleman in the secret delivery of weapons to Iran dating from August, 1985. President Reagan has implied that Israel then channeled money obtained from the sales into Swiss bank accounts used to fund the contras in Nicaragua. David Kimche, former director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said last week that the covert operation was coordinated with the highest levels of the U.S. government.

Lesser Threat

Israel, which has long cultivated relations with non-Arab governments in the region, has supported non-Arab Iran in its six-year war with Arab Iraq on the premise that the Khomeini regime represents less of a long-term threat to its existence than does the government of Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein. Washington has remained publicly neutral in the war, though it believes that Iran is the strategic plum of the two belligerents.

Two of 10 Israelis--but only one of 10 Americans--want to see Iran win the war, which already has caused more than 1 million casualties. Half the Israelis and Americans polled said they had no preference who won--a finding that is reminiscent of the remark by former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger: “The ultimate American interest in the war (is) that both sides should lose.”

Israelis in the poll were more tolerant of government lies than Americans were and more critical of media coverage. Forty-three percent of Israelis, contrasted with 30% of Americans, believe that governments are “sometimes justified” in lying to the public, and 49% of Israelis, contrasted with 37% of Americans, think the media have been too aggressive in their coverage of the controversy.

The survey in Israel was conducted by the Dahaf Research Institute, directed by Mina Zemach. The margin of error in polls of this size is plus or minus 3% in the United States and 4% in Israel.

ISRAELI and AMERICAN VIEWS of IRAN AFFAIR Do you approve or disapprove of President Reagan’s dealings with Iran?

Israel U.S. Approve 49% 22% Disapprove 40% 65% Don’t know 11% 13%

Do you approve or disapprove of the role that the Israeli government has played in this affair?

Israel U.S. Approve 47% 21% Disapprove 35% 38% Don’t know 18% 41%

Source: Los Angeles Times Poll and Dahaf Research Institute for Yedioth Ahronoth.