Poll: Jews Support Obama Despite Tensions With Israel

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obama2Despite recent friction with Israel, a majority of America’s Jews still support their president. The Jewish community continues to be a strong support base for President Obama.  

Some 57% of US Jews support Obama versus 38% who are opposed to his policies. However, these figures reflect the downward trend in overall American support for the president. In the past presidential elections, some 80% of American Jews voted for Obama.

The annual poll carried out by the American Jewish Committee shows that 55% of American Jews approve of the manner in which Obama is handling US-Israel relations, versus 37% who disapprove.  

Members of the Jewish community are aware of the particularly tense relations between the two countries recently. Only 10% believe that the state if relations between Israel and the US is “very positive,” versus a solid majority of 63% who claim that relations are “somewhat positive.”

The poll was conducted in the first three weeks of March when frictions between the two allies erupted over Israel’s approval of 1,600 housing units in Yerushalayim’s Ramat Shlomo neighborhood during Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel.

In response to whether they support the establishment of a Palestinian state, 48% of those polled responded in the positive, while 45% said they were opposed to such a move. Regarding West Bank settlements, near two-thirds said Israel must evacuate at least some of the settlements in a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

However, 61% of American Jews are opposed to compromising on the status of Yerushalayim as Israel’s united capital, according to the poll.

The poll also reveals that the American Jewish community is suspicious of the intentions of Arab states. Three out of every four respondents said that the true goal of the Arabs is the destruction of Israel, and not returning occupied territory. Twenty percent did not agree with this evaluation.

In addition, 94% of American Jews believe that the Palestinians must be required to recognize Israel as a Jewish state as part of a final peace agreement.

On Iran’s nuclear issue, 47% of the respondents said they approve of Obama’s conduct with Tehran, versus 42% who said they are opposed to it. Despite this, nearly half of those polled believe that there is some chance Obama will stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Regarding whether they support US military action against Iran, 53% said they are in support of such a move, with 40% responding they are opposed. Support for Israeli military action against Iran was a bit higher with 62% in favor and 33% opposed.

Less than a fifth US Jews defined themselves as Republican in the poll, in comparison with 50% who identified themselves as Democrats and 32% as Independents.

Regarding their Jewish identity, 10% identified themselves as Orthodox, 24% as Conservative, 26% as Reform, 2% as Reconstructionist, and 37% as “just Jewish.” Eighty-five percent said their Jewish identity is important to them, and near three-fourths said that they feel close to some degree with Israel.

{Ynet/Yair Alpert-Matzav.com Israel}


9 COMMENTS

  1. I don’t believe that any person in their right mind supports Obama’s Israel policy unless they are against Israel. How about ‘how many Jews support Obama’s Israel policy and they are pro-Israel themselves?’. I bet the result of that poll would be zero.

    ‘Close to some degree with Israel’ is very ambiguous to the point of meaningless. The result of this poll is only that the AJC supports Obama and is trying to show that their base agrees. Are we stupid?

  2. “10%… Orthodox” In the time of the Exodus from Egypt, only 20% of the Jews were willing to follow Moses into the desert, accept the Torah and ultimately conquer and settle the promised land. Today, only 10% are willing to follow the word of Hashem’s Torah, while more then 89% either try to distort the Torah or simply feel that a Jew doesn’t need Torah at all. May Hashem have mercy on us and bring the redemption just as he did in Egypt and in all consequent exiles even though we may not ?”? merit it.

  3. Frankly, I believe the numbers are more against Obama than this article purports. This poll was taken by a very liberal pro-Obama organization, and even they were forced to admit that support for Obama has dropped by a whopping 23% in just one year. The numbers are definitley much larger.

    The real shocker will come in Nov 2010 and 2012

  4. The secular and assimilated Jews will support the Democrat whoever he is.

    If Joe Stalin ran as a Democrat, these folks would be his first and most enthusiastic voters.

  5. #6 – And if he ran as a Republican, the frummers from BP and Lakewood would support him too. Republicans are just as much a bunch of sheep as anyone else, and that includes the black-hat-and=shtreimel bunch who support anyone who claims he’s anti-Democrat.

  6. I choose a president for the country I live in. I don’t choose a president based on one issue, like his policy towards any particular country.

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