Poll: U.S. should not get involved in Gaza

PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 9 (UPI) -- About a third of Americans say U.S. President George W. Bush should be doing more to end the Israel-Gaza conflict, a poll indicates.

A Gallup poll conducted the first two days after Israeli mortar fire killed more than 40 Palestinians sheltered in a United Nations-run school, 33 percent of Americans said the White House should get more involved in securing a cease-fire, while 52 percent of respondents said they do not push for more involvement.

On ideological lines, 50 percent of self-described liberals said they want the Bush administration to do more to resolve the conflict, while 32 percent of moderates and 24 percent of conservatives said they wanted to see more U.S. involvement.

"Public opinion is less slanted in favor of stepping up U.S. efforts to resolve the Gaza conflict when the same question is asked in terms of what the United States should do, rather than what the Bush administration should do," Gallup said in its analysis.

The poll of 2,049 national adults, aged 18 and older, was conducted Jan. 6 to Jan. 7. The maximum margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.