Majority of American Jews Favor Israeli Talks with Plo, Study Finds

A 58 percent majority of American Jews say Israel should be willing to talk with the Palestine Liberation Organization, as long as it recognizes Israel and renounces terrorism, a new study reports.

But only 14 percent of American Jews think Israel should talk with the PLO without these conditions and nearly nine out of 10 still regard the PLO as a terrorist organization.

The study also shows that despite discomfort over the Palestinian uprising and even more anguish over the “Who Is a Jew” issue, American Jewish support for Israel remains virtually unchanged since 1986.

The study lays to rest impressions that recent events in the Middle East have led American Jews to distance themselves from Israel, said Steven Cohen, the Queens College sociology professor who conducted the survey on behalf of the American Jewish Committee’s Institute on American Jewish-Israeli Relations.

But Cohen noted that younger Jews are considerably less attached to Israel than their elders.

DESIRE PEACE, BUT FEAR PLO

Results of the study were announced Tuesday at a news conference at AJ Committee headquarters here. The findings are the result of a national survey of 944 American Jews in January and February by Market Facts Inc., a Washington based research organization.

Measuring the effects of the Palestinian uprising on American Jewish opinion, the survey found that over a third of the respondents, 35 percent, said they were “morally outraged” by some of Israel’s actions.

A clear majority, 54 percent, said they experienced feelings during the uprising that “Israelis were acting wrongly.”

Asked about options for peace, 47 percent of the respondents said they believe the Palestinians have a right to a homeland in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as long as it does not threaten Israel. Twenty-three percent disagreed, and 30 percent said they were unsure.

Asked if “Israel should be willing to talk with the PLO,” as long as it “recognizes Israel and renounces terrorism,” 58 percent said yes, 18 percent said no and 24 percent were not sure.

Still, 86 percent of the respondents said they believe the PLO is a terrorist organization.

“Interestingly, American Jews and Israelis are very close in their attitudes toward peace,” said Cohen. He quoted a recent Israeli survey which found that 54 percent of Israelis favor talks with the PLO if they meet preconditions.

“They are desperate for peace,” he said, “but are still, literally, scared to death of the PLO.”

ANGUISH OVER ‘WHO IS A JEW’

To whatever extent American Jews were upset by Israel’s response to the uprising, they were even more upset by the “Who Is a Jew” question, Cohen said.

A great majority, 86 percent, said they recognize only those conversions performed by an Orthodox rabbi.”

Cohen said that unlike the uprising, the proposed changes in the Law of Return affected respondents personally. Solid majorities said that the proposed changes would have brought into question the Jewish identity of some of their close friends or relatives, and that the changes would have meant that Israel was “declaring Conservative and Reform Judaism illegitimate.”

AJ Committee has conducted similar surveys almost every year since 1981. The latest shows that 62 percent of American Jews feel “very close” or “fairly close” to Israel, the same percentage as in 1986, though a slight decrease from the 70 percent figure of 1988.

When asked how they feel about Israel, compared to “three or four years ago,” 8 percent said they felt more distant, 14 percent said they felt closer, 75 percent said they felt “about the same” and 3 percent were unsure.

Almost two-thirds of American Jews, 65 percent, said the destruction of Israel would feel like “one of the greatest personal tragedies in my life.” That is the same percentage as in 1988, and even more than in 1986.

But only 55 percent of those under 35 answered positively to the question, compared to 71 percent of Jews in the 55 to 64 age group.

Cohen suggested that the less personally American Jews experienced the watershed events of the Holocaust, Israel’s birth, and the major wars of 1967 and 1973, the less attachment they feel to Israel.