Most U.S. Jews Concerned About Israel, Accept Criticism of State

The vast majority of American Jews are deeply concerned for the State of Israel. Most, nevertheless, consider criticism of the Israeli government acceptable and those most often troubled by Israeli policies are those most intensely attached to the state.

So concludes Prof. Steven M. Cohen in a study released by the American Jewish Committee Thursday. The study, “Ties and Tensions: The 1986 Survey of American Jewish Attitudes Toward Israel and Israelis,” is based on date collected last October and November from 1,133 Americans of all branches of Judaism.

Cohen is professor of sociology at Queens College, City University of New York. The study was a follow-up to his 1983 study, both for AJC’s Institute of American Jewish-Israel Relations. Comparisons of the findings of the studies showed some significant changes of attitude.

There was little change, however, in the percentage of American Jews who expressed various forms of strong attachment to Israel. Thirty-three percent of the respondents in the 1986 survey had been to Israel; 30 percent had a personal friend in Israel; 34 percent had family in Israel; 40 percent knew an American who settled in Israel; 26 percent corresponded with, telephoned or dealt directly with an Israeli in the last year; 34 percent would like their children to spend a year in Israel; and 27 percent identified themselves as Zionists.

According to Cohen, about three-fifths or more of the respondents can be seen as “at least moderately attached to the Jewish State.” But degree and nature of attachment varied according to religious denomination.

ATTITUDE OF ORTHODOX JEWS

According to Cohen, Orthodox Jews outscored Conservative Jews by wide margins in such measurements of involvement with Israel as travelling there, knowing Israelis and expressing concern for Israel’s survival. Conservative Jews outscored Reform Jews by somewhat narrower margins in those categories.

Moveover, Cohen noted, in comparison with the 1983 survey, Orthodox Jews, already strongly involved with Israel, appear to have become even more involved. Conservative involvement remained unchanged and Reform Jews, who had generally been among the less involved in 1983, became even more removed.

According to Cohen, the increased estrangement of Reform Jews may stem from their discontent with the growing influence of the Orthodox establishment in Israel.

Cohen found that Jews under age 40 scored somewhat lower on the attachment to Israel level than those 40 and over. This may be explained in part by the fact that younger adults did not travel to Israel as much as their elders, he noted. There was no comparable difference between younger and older adults in other dimensions of Jewish identity.

TROUBLED BY POLICIES OF ISRAELI GOVERNMENT

The survey found that about 40 percent of the respondents were sometimes “troubled by the policies of the Israeli government.” But, Cohen noted, those who were troubled were found more frequently among the minority who had been to Israel, those who expressed the highest levels of attachment and the more traditionally Jewish.

By a 63-22 percent majority, respondents did not object to criticism of Israel by other Jews and 72 percent agreed that “Jews who are severely critical of Israel should nevertheless be allowed to speak in synagogues and Jewish community centers.” A 38-27 percent plurality agreed that “most American Jewish organizations have been too willing to automatically support the policies of whatever Israeli party happens to be in power.”

The 1986 survey uncovered considerable opposition to Rabbi Meir Kahane of the Kach Party, who was elected to the Knesset in 1984 on a platform that many leading Israelis consider racist.

Unfavorable views of Kahane outnumbered favorable impressions by a 7-1 margin — compared to a 10-1 margin favorable toward Labor Party leader Shimon Peres.

Rejection of Kahane was most pronounced among those respondents who scored highest in attachment to Israel. Paradoxically, the only group with some noticeable measure of acceptance of Kahane was the Orthodox, who were fairly evenly divided.

Moving to worries, Cohen pointed out that “The anxieties over the U.S.-Israel relationship were less pronounced in the fall of 1986 than in 1983. The earlier study was conducted in the wake of the Lebanon war when Israel’s actions were being severely criticized by the American media …” (Note: the 1986 survey was conducted before Israel’s involvement in the Iran-Contra arms sale scandal was disclosed and before concern peaked over the Jonathan Pollard spy case when Pollard was sentenced to life imprisonment).

CONCERN OVER U.S. SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL

On the anxiety scale, nearly half of the respondents in 1986 were worried about U.S. support for Israel, but this was less than in 1983. In 1986, 40 percent said they feared “the U.S. may stop being a firm ally of Israel,” down from 55 percent three years earlier. And 46 percent believed that “when it comes to the crunch few non-Jews will come to Israel’s side in its struggle to survive,” down from 54 percent in 1983.

According to Cohen, these concerns have to be viewed against a background of Jewish anxiety about anti-Semitism in the U.S. He found that, as in previous AJC studies, about two-thirds of American Jews expressed serious concerns about anti-Semitism.

Finally, despite high levels of commitment to Israel and the Jewish people, the survey found what Cohen termed a “tribal universalism.” No fewer than 96 percent of the respondents agreed that “As Jews we should be concerned about all people, and not just Jews.”

By a 89-9 percent majority, American Jews claimed that “I get just as upset by terrorist attacks on non-Jews as I do when terrorists attack Jews.” A 75-15 percent majority agreed that “In most ways, Jews are not better than non-Jews.”