Half of Frenchmen surveyed say Jews ‘closer’ to Israel

(JTA) — Half of the respondents to a survey on attitudes toward Jews in France said French Jews are closer to Israel than to their own republic.

In the poll conducted last month of 1,001 French adults, 50 percent of respondents said Jews are “closer to France than Israel” and 46 percent said they were not; 4 percent said they did not know.

Seventy-seven percent of respondents said Jews are “a unified group characterized by solidarity,” while 20 percent said Jews are a “diverse and divided” group.

Twenty-eight percent agreed with the assertion that “Jews exercise an oversized level of influence,” while 71 percent said they “exercise a normal amount of influence.”

On combating anti-Semitism, 28 percent said “too much is being done” compared to 41 percent who said “what is being done is just right” and 30 percent said “not enough is being done.”

One in five respondents said “too much was being done” to preserve the memory of the Holocaust, while 57 percent said Holocaust preservation efforts are “sufficient as they are.” Twenty-two percent said “not enough” is being done.

The Holocaust was described as “a specific and unique massacre in world history” by 36 percent of respondents, whereas 63 percent said it was “a massacre which fits in a sequence of other terrible events that have happened throughout history.”

The slaying on March 19, 2012 of three Jewish children and a rabbi in Toulouse by a Muslim extremist was described as “an isolated act which does not illustrate any general trend” by 59 percent of respondents, whereas 40 percent said it was “a sign of the growth in anti-Semitism in France.”

The poll was conduced by the firm OpinionWay.