India most sympathetic towards Israel, says study

Jerusalem, Apr 4 (PTI) Amid burgeoning defence and trade
ties, sympathy for Israel has also seen an unprecedented
growth in India, where the Jewish state enjoys the highest
level of support, pushing the United States to the second
position, according to a study.

The study commissioned by Israel's foreign ministry and
conducted by an international market research company has
shown that 58 percent of Indians are sympathetic towards
Israel, compared to 56 percent in the US, daily 'Yediot
Ahronoth' reported.

The study was undertaken as part of the "Branding
Israel" project and aimed at looking into Israel's
international stature at what researchers characterised as the
world's 13 most important countries, including the US, Canada,
Britain, France, China and Russia.

Other countries that showed significant sympathy towards
Israel included Russia (52 percent), Mexico (52 percent),
and China (50 percent).

While Britain (34 percent), France (27 percent) and
Spain (23 percent) emerged as the least sympathetic countries
towards the Jewish state.

The participants in the study were asked a series of
questions and were instructed to grade their level of
sympathy for Israel on a 1 to 10 scale.

The same participants were later presented with several
'branding videos' on Israel before being asked more questions
in order to see whether their opinions changed after watching
the clips, the daily said.

The videos focussed on many aspects of life in Israel,
including the beaches, landscape, culture, food, technology,
and religious sites.

The study showed that a total of 51 percent of the
respondents said that their views about Israel changed for the
better after watching the videos.

The percentage of respondents who perceived Israel as an
aggressive state is said to have subsequently dropped to 21
from 35 percent while the percentage of respondents who
perceived Israel as a creative country rose from 24 to 40 per
cent after watching the clips.PTI HM
SAK
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