Poll: Majority of Israeli Jews Believe ‘Pro-Israel’ Means ‘Pro-Government’
More than half of Israeli Jews believe that the term “pro-Israel” should apply only to Jewish groups that back the policies of the current Israeli government, a poll showed.
Asked to choose between one of two statements, 54 percent of respondents – statistically half – said that “Jewish organizations that advocate before foreign governments and identify themselves as pro-Israel should always support the policies of the current Israeli government,” according to the survey published Tuesday.
Twenty-eight percent of respondents agreed with the other statement, that such organizations should “be free to openly oppose the policies of the current Israeli government.”
A large majority, 65 percent to 12 percent, agreed that “American Jews should criticize President Obama’s policy towards Israel” as opposed to supporting it.
The survey, commissioned by B’nai B’rith’s Jerusalem-based World Center and carried out by Keevoon, reached 500 Jewish adult Israelis June 1-4. The margin of error was 4.5 percent.
The poll also found that a majority – 55 percent to 36 percent – agreed that a two-state solution is “essential to Israel’s survival as a national home of the Jewish people as a vibrant democracy.” A plurality, 48 percent to 41 percent, agreed that “it is essential that the European Union, along with the United States, put pressure on both parties and help them achieve a reasonable and rapid solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Both statements were drawn from the manifesto of JCall, a new European pro-Israel group that presses for a two-state solution and rejects hewing only to the current Israeli government line.
A plurality – 49 percent to 37 percent – disagreed, however, with JCall’s statement that the settlements pose a “danger” to Israel and are “morally and politically wrong.”
A plurality, 47 percent to 34 percent, also disagreed with Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky’s plan to switch the agency’s emphasis from aliyah to building Jewish identity in the Diaspora.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.