Survey: Jews feel close to Israel; its government, not so much

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset on May 23, 2023. Photo by Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images

(JTA) — Five months into Israel’s war with Hamas, American Jews felt close to Israel but were also likely to feel uncomfortable with its government’s actions, according to a Jewish Federations of North America poll.

The survey released Thursday, which canvassed 1,901 Jews between Feb. 23 and March 11, found that 79% of respondents felt close to Israel, while 19% did not, and that 72% agreed that Israel, in general, made them proud to be Jewish, while 23% did not feel that way.

Asked whether they agree with the statement, “I sometimes find it hard to support actions taken by Israel or its government,” 62% said they agreed and 34% did not.

The results comport with recent polling that shows substantial American Jewish support for Israel in the war it has waged since Hamas massacred hundreds of people in Israel on Oct. 7. A Pew survey released last month showed that Jews were likelier than Americans in general to back Israel’s conduct in the war.

But it also comports with polling last year showing increasing American Jewish disillusionment with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and his bid then to sap the powers of Israel’s courts.

Jews were much likelier to have an emotional reaction to the war than non-Jews, according to the survey, which asked some of the same questions of 4,143 non-Jews surveyed during the same period. Asked how much the war “emotionally affected” them, 92% of Jewish respondents said it did, while just 48% of all respondents registered the same reaction.

Asked if they were following the war closely, 96% of Jewish respondents said they were, while that figure for all respondents was 71%.

The pollsters, Benenson Strategy Group, weighted the answers to reflect the correct proportions of Jews and other segments of the American population.

There were substantive differences in how Jewish and non-Jewish respondents answered questions about empathy with Israelis and Palestinians: 95% of Jewish respondents felt empathy with Israelis, while 74% of non-Jews did. Asked the same question about Palestinians, 57% of Jewish respondents said they felt empathy while 69% of non-Jewish respondents said they did.

JFNA did not provide margins of error.

This article originally appeared on JTA.org.

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