WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Israel was justified in invading Lebanon in the wake of the kidnapping of two of its soldiers by Hezbollah, respondents to a UPI-Zogby International poll said.
Hezbollah, designated by some countries as a terrorist organization, captured the Israelis in a cross-border raid in July, setting off a 34-day war that devastated large areas of Lebanon. Some 1,500 people -- mostly Lebanese civilians -- died in the conflict. The fate of the Israeli soldiers is unknown.
A total of 57.6 percent of the 6,296 U.S. respondents to a Zogby interactive poll said Israel was "justified" in its response while 31.1 percent said it wasn't. Of the 124 respondents who said they were Jewish, 69.9 percent said the invasion was called for and 19.3 percent said it wasn't.
There was a sharp political divide with 85.5 percent of self-described Republicans supporting the Israeli invasion and 52.7 percent of Democrats saying it wasn't justified. Some 57.8 percent of independents agreed that Israel was justified to invade Lebanon. While 16.1 percent of "progressives" said they agreed with Israel's actions, 92.1 percent of those defined as "very conservative" backed the invasion.
The poll was conducted Dec. 4-6 and has a margin of error of 1.3 percentage points.
