"Overall, this poll demonstrates that Jewish Americans take very sophisticated and nuanced positions when it comes to American policy toward the Middle East. While American Jews deeply support Israel, they recognize how vital peace is for Israeli and American interests, and are ready for the U.S. to play an active and engaged role in ending the Middle East conflict. While some of the louder voices from the American Jewish community focus solely on the need to confront Iran, on isolating Hamas or on military aspects of the conflict - Amercian Jews as a whole understand that diplomatic engagement with Iran or with a unified Palestinian government including Hamas are essential Israeli and American interests." - Jeremy Ben-Ami, Executive Director of J Street, 3/23/09
Today, J Street, the liberal political arm of the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement, released a new poll which revealed strong support among American Jews for active engagement in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and for the Obama Administration's diplomatic activity in the greater Middle East.
According to J Street, the findings in this survey find solid support in the Jewish community for their essential proposition that peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a core Israeli and American interest and that the United States should take an active leadership role in achieving peace.
Highlights of the poll, designed and conducted by Gerstein Agne Strategic Communications between 2/28/09 and 3/8/09, are:
- American Jews remain remarkably supportive of assertive American efforts to achieve Middle East peace.
The poll finds an extraordinarily strong base of 69 percent of American Jews firmly supporting active American engagement in bringing about Middle East peace, even if it means publicly disagreeing with or exerting pressure on both Arabs and Israelis, compared to 66 percent eight months ago
- 69 percent also support the U.S. working with a unified Hamas-Fatah Palestinian Authority government to achieve a peace agreement with Israel, even when informed that the U.S. does not recognize Hamas due to its status as a terrorist organization and its refusal to recognize Israel. Interestingly, a March poll conducted by the Truman Institute at Hebrew University reported that 69 percent of Israelis also think Israel should negotiate with a joint Hamas-Fatah government
- By 76-24 percent, American Jews support a two-state, final status deal between Israel and the Palestinians along the lines of the agreement nearly reached eight years ago during the Camp David and Taba talks
- On Avigdor Lieberman: When told about Lieberman's campaign platform requiring Arab citizens of Israel to sign loyalty oaths, as well as his threats against Arab Members of Knesset, American Jews opposed these positions by a 69 to 31 margin. One in three believe their own connection to Israel will be diminished if Lieberman assumes a senior position in the Israeli cabinet.
- On Gaza: While Jews rallied behind Israel and approved of Israel's military action by a 3 to 1 margin, 59 percent still felt that the military action had no impact on Israel's security (41 percent) or made Israel less secure (18 percent), while only 41 percent felt it made Israel more secure.
- On President Obama: The President has high personal favorability (74 percent) and job approval (73 percent) among American Jews. This trust extends to his Middle East policy, with 72 percent approving of the way he is handling the Arab-Israeli conflict, 76 percent believing he supports Israel, and 69 percent thinking he has a good vision for advancing Middle East peace.
- On Settlement Expansion: American Jews oppose the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank by a 60 to 40 percent margin. Opposition is higher in Reform and Unaffiliated Jews (69 percent) and Jews who donate to political campaigns (72 percent).
- Middle East Peace is a Core Interest For the U.S. and Israel: This idea is supported by American Jews by a 51 to 32 percent margin. When asked whether military superiority alone or a peace agreement with a strong military would provide better security for Israel, Jews favor a peace agreement 49 to 36 percent.
Said Mr. Ben-Ami, "What we see throughout this poll is that support for Israel is strong and stable among American Jews. When Israel is threatened, American Jews will rally to its defense. J Street too is unwavering in its commitment to Israel's security. However, we - and American Jews as a whole - can move beyond simply choosing sides to ask what's best for Israel. And on this question - throughout the poll - we see that American Jews support diplomacy, recognize that military force alone doesn't necessarily enhance security, and are ready to engage with rather than isolate those with whom we have conflicts."
To find detailed information regarding the survey, including data, analysis, and a powerpoint presentation, go to this page.
J Street was launched in April, 2008 to promote meaningful American leadership to end the Arab-Israeli and Palestinian-Israeli conflicts peacefully and diplomatically. The organization supports a new direction for American foreign policy in the Middle East and a broad public and policy debate about the U.S. role in the region. As a pro-Israel group commited to challenging the status-quo, they need as much support as possible. Please consider the following actions:
- Visit the J Street Policy page and learn about their postions.
- Offer support and/or constuctive feedback at info@jstreet.org.
- Sign-up to receive the "Word On The Street" Newsletter every 1 to 2 weeks that summarizes their latest issues, work, and writings
- Register for J Street's first national conference, "Driving Change, Securing Peace", being held October 25-28, 2009 in Washington, D.C..
- Donate to JStreetPac, the first political action committee to endorse and raise funds for federal candidates based on their support for Israel and for American policy in the Middle East that promotes security through peace, a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and active diplomacy to address regional conflicts
