"Some 69 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of Israel according to a recent Gallup poll, the first taken since the death of former Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Yasir Arafat in November and the announcement of an end to violence at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit in February.The approval rating is Israel’s highest since the Persian Gulf War in early 1991, when 79 percent of Americans held a positive view of the Jewish state."