Kiriakou prefaces the finding with an admission about himself — “you know how obsessed I am with polls” — before describing this one as a global survey that ranked every country by whether its citizens were strongly pro-Israel, moderately pro-Israel, moderately anti-Israel or strongly anti-Israel. [1]
The result
Out of roughly two hundred countries, he says, only three came out pro-Israel by majority. One of them is Israel. One of them is the United States. “And the third, inexplicably to me, was Nigeria.” [2]
Everybody else, in his summary, is majority anti-Israel. “The world.” [3] Asked whether the poll tracked change over time, Kiriakou said it had, and that the movement was dramatic. [3]
Turkey and Greece
Outside the Middle East proper — he flags the British usage — Kiriakou reports Turkey as the most anti-Israel country. [3] He treats this as a genuine reversal, agreeing that the two states used to be something close to allies, and recalling the Turkish doctors, rescue teams and trained dogs sent to Israel after the earthquake. [4]
His explanation is Erdogan’s drift “farther and farther toward the religious types over the years,” with the decision to publicly support Hamas as the breaking point. [4]
The consequence Kiriakou finds most striking is a swap. “That’s when the Greeks moved in to become pro-Israel. It was the Greeks that were always pro-Palestinian. And when the Turks switched, the Greeks switched.” [5]
But the Greek public did not follow the Greek state. Combining strongly and moderately anti-Israel responses, Kiriakou says, Greece came out at 74 per cent anti-Israel — “despite the fact that the Greek government bows down before the Israeli government.” He calls the gap fascinating. [5]
The lesson he draws
Kiriakou’s conclusion is about the United States rather than about Israel: “the Israelis are dragging us down with them.” [6]
He pairs it with a complaint about the terms of American debate — that so many Americans believe being anti-Netanyahu means being antisemitic, and that one must be in lock step with the farthest-right elements of the Israeli government to escape the charge. His verdict on that proposition: “utter nonsense.” [6]