Almost 45% of Israelis consider EU as opponent

Almost 45% of Israelis consider the European Union as an opponent, while 53% see that Israel should improve its relations with Turkey, according to a new survey.

The poll by Mitvim research institution found that 27% of Israelis see the EU as a friend, while 28% didn't have a specific opinion.

The EU supports the "two-state solution" to end the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict and reject the Israeli settlement building on the occupied Palestinian territories.

The survey, which was conducted last September with the participation of 700 Israelis and a 3.5% margin of error, found that 53% of Israelis want their country to improve relations with Turkey against 32%, while 15% did not have a specific opinion.

According to the survey, Russia was the most important country for Israel along with the U.S. followed by Germany, Britain, China, France and Egypt.

A majority of 71% believed that peace with Jordan was and remain a strategic interest of Israel while 16% considered it less important than in the past and 13% did not have a specific opinion.

While 32% of Israelis considered that Israel belongs to the Middle East, 27% said it belongs to Europe. Also, 21% said it belongs to the Mediterranean basin, 7% said it does not belong to any of these groupings and 13% said they had no specific opinion.

Notably, 68% felt that cooperation between Israel and other countries in the Middle East was possible against 20%, while the rest did not have a specific opinion.