NEW YORK, April 11, 2005? American Jews, by a nearly three to one margin (62% to 23%) support Israel?s disengagement plan to leave Gaza and some West Bank settlements, according to a new survey released today.
In addition, a large plurality of American Jews believe that in the context of a peace agreement Israel should be willing to withdraw from most Jewish settlements in the West Bank (41% vs. 27%).
These results emerge from a national telephone survey last week of 501 American Jews, directed by Prof. Steven M. Cohen, sociologist at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem for Ameinu, an American Zionist organization, which for 70 years has trained future leaders for the Israeli and American Jewish communities.
The survey comes as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is scheduled to meet Monday with President Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.
When asked how far Israel should go in the context of negotiating ?a peace treaty where each side promises to end the conflict, once and for all,? the vast majority of American Jews? 70% to 10% ? also believe Israel should be willing to accept the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
?At this moment of renewed hope, American Jews stand squarely with Israel as it prepares to take great risks for peace,? said Kenneth Bob, president of Ameinu.
?Like the vast majority of Israelis, American Jews overwhelmingly support disengagement from Gaza and part of the West Bank and see this as the first of many steps toward a lasting peace with two states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side,? he said.
At the same time, American Jews are not at all convinced that even with ?a signed peace agreement, the great majority of Palestinians are prepared to live in peace with the Israelis.? Only 24% of American Jews hold this view, more (35%) disagree, and the rest (41%) are mixed or not sure. When asked about how the United States should relate to the conflict, an overwhelming majority (75% to 10%) endorsed the view that, ?The U.S. should push both sides toward a peace agreement, even in the face of objections from Israelis or Palestinians.?
Interested media are respectfully requested to attribute data to the Ameinu survey.
The respondents were largely unsure (62%) about whether the plan will make Israel safer, and only a small plurality of 22% versus 16% could see the disengagement making Israel more safe rather than less safe. At the same time, a 55% to 21% majority did agree that the plan will help both sides move closer to a peace agreement.
In the context of such an agreement a large plurality of American Jews believe that Israel should allow the return of a token number of Palestinian refugees to those parts of Israel they or their families left (41% to 30%).
The skeptical but mixed views of Palestinian intentions emerged in responses to several related questions. On the one hand, a plurality believe, ?The current leaders of the Palestinian Authority are ready to hold serious negotiations with Israel toward a peaceful resolution of their conflict (40% agreed, 15% disagreed). At the same time, American Jews are deeply skeptical about the chances of entirely ending terrorist attacks on Israel. By a majority of 70% to 9%, they agree, ?Even with a signed agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, a large number of Palestinians will continue to use terrorism against Israel.? On these matters, as contrasted with others, Orthodox Jews were opposed to the disengagement and more deeply skeptical of Palestinian intentions.
?As they have in the past, American Jews? attitudes toward the conflict remarkably resemble those of the Israeli public, with, in fact, the same Orthodox / non-Orthodox split as in Israel,? Cohen said.
?Like Israelis today, American Jews strongly support the disengagement plan out of the hope that it might produce a lasting peace. At the same time, they harbor no illusions about a portion of the Palestinians, believing that they are committed to pursuing terrorism, even with the disengagement and even with a signed peace agreement with the PA,? he said.
How the United States should relate to the conflict contain a number of seeming contradictions. A strong majority (67% to 9%) wants the United States to ?push Palestinian leaders to be more conciliatory toward the Israelis,? while a plurality (47% to 20%) believe likewise regarding pushing ?Israeli leaders to be more conciliatory toward the Palestinians.? Further signs of complexity emerge in the responses to two seemingly opposed ideas. By a 48% to 14% plurality, they agree, ?In all or almost all instances, the United States should support the positions of the Israeli government in its dealings with the Palestinians.? At the same time, a plurality of 40% to 31% also agrees that, ?Rather than almost always taking Israel?s side as it does now, the United States should be more even-handed in its approach to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, sometimes supporting the Israelis, and sometimes the Palestinians.?
?Clearly, the complexity of the conflict is mirrored in the complexity of the views on the conflict, be they among American Jews or their Israeli counterparts,? Cohen added.
The Washington office of Synovate, Inc., a major international marketing research company, conducted the fieldwork last week, calling a sample of 501 respondents from eligible Jewish households across the United States, all of whom are 25 or over and identified as Jewish by religion. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 5%.
