Tuesday, April 13, 2010

The Incongruity of American Jewish Opinion

http://www.israel-commentary.org/

The data reported here are taken from the 2010 Annual Survey of American
Jewish Opinion, sponsored by the American Jewish Committee (AJC). The 2010 survey was conducted for AJC by Synovate (formerly Market Facts), a leading research organization. Respondents were interviewed by telephone between March 2 - March 23, 2010. The sample consisted of 800 self-identifying Jewish respondents selected from the Synovate consumer mail panel. The margin of error for the sample as a whole is plus or minus 3 percentage
points. Data listed below from publication compiled by imra@netvision.net.il

Additional commentary by Jerome S. Kaufman

Date: April 11, 2010

In the survey American Jews answered as follows:

10. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? "The goal of the
Arabs is not the return of occupied territories but rather the destruction
of Israel.‰" Agree 75 Disagree 20 Not Sure 5

If they already realize this - the rest of their answers obviously fail to correlate with this conclusion or "connect the dots" relative to the other questions in the survey. Then again - the Americans are not alone. There are many Israelis who fail to connect the dots.

A. Obama Administration:

1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job
as President? Approve 57% Disaprove 38% Not sure 6%

2. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling each of
the following?

A. The economy: Approve 55 Disapprove 42 Not sure 3

B. Health care: Approve 50 Disapprove 48 Not sure 3

C. Homeland security Approve 62 Disapprove 33 Not sure 5

3. How would you characterize relations between Israel and the United States
today? Are they very positive, somewhat positive, somewhat negative, or very
negative? Very positive 10, Somewhat positive 63 (?!), Somewhat negative 22 Very negative 4 Not sure 1

4. Do you approve or disapprove of the Obama Administration's handling of
U.S.-Israel relations? Approve 55% (?!), Disaprove 37% Not sure 8%

(How could 55% of American Jews approve of Obama when he, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, et al, demand the relinquishing of virtually all of Judea and Samaria and won't even allow new housing in Jerusalem proper?) jsk

5. Do you approve or disapprove of the Netanyahu government's handling of
Israel-U.S. relations? Approve 57% Disaprove 30% Not sure 12%

6. As compared with one year ago, are you more optimistic about the chance
for a lasting peace between Israel and the Arabs, less optimistic, or do you
think the chance for a lasting peace is about the same as it was one year
ago? More optimistic 6 Less optimistic 22 Same as one year ago 72(?!) Not sure 1

7. In the current situation, do you favor or oppose the establishment of a
Palestinian state? Favor 48% Oppose 45% Not sure 7%

(How could anyone who believes the Arab ultimate goal is to destroy Israel, allow the Arabs the huge advantage, the huge leg up on the accomplishment of this goal by allowing them a PA state that will only become a hotbed for terrorism and Israel destruction?) jsk

8. In the framework of a permanent peace with the Palestinians, should
Israel be willing to compromise on the status of Jerusalem as a united city
under Israeli jurisdiction? Yes 35 No 61 Not Sure 4

(What "permanent peace" are they talking about - Have the Arabs made even one gesture suggesting that they are interested in a "permanent peace") jsk

9. As part of a permanent settlement with the Palestinians, should Israel be
willing to dismantle all, some, or none of the Jewish settlements in the
West Bank? All 8 Some 56 None 34 Not sure 2

(Again - "dismantle settlements" in order to help the Arabs in their ultimate goal?" Who are the 56% confused ones that agree to dismantle "some" settlements?) jsk

10. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The goal of the
Arabs is not the return of occupied territories but rather the destruction
of Israel. Agree 75 Disagree 20 Not Sure 5

11. Do you think that Israel can or cannot achieve peace with a Hamas-led
Palestinian government? Can 16 Cannot 80 Not Sure 4

(Nu? If 80% say peace with Hamas not possible, why allow a PA state or give up one inch of territory? Who do these Americans believe will govern this PA state?) jsk

12. Should the Palestinians be required or not be required to recognize Israel as a Jewish state in a final peace agreement? Required 94 Not required 3 Not sure 1

(The weakness of those Jews that would even answer such an outrageous, brazen question is a source of painful embarrassment to me personally. We have to ask for the "recognition" by the Arabs or anyone else in this world after having been here for over 3000 years with our G-d and our Bible being the foundation of Western Civilization? How dare they such chutzpa and how stupid of us to even respond!) jsk

(The answers to most of the rest of the questions below simply further confirm the obvious inconsistency and lack of rational logic of the respondents. I can only wish good luck to the Israelis, the Jews and the rest of the world, that have to deal with such uninformed, obtuse and delusional views) jsk

D. International Issues

13. Do you approve or disapprove of the Obama Administration's handling of
the Iran nuclear issue? Approve 47% Disaprove 42% Not sure 11%

14. How much of a chance do you think there is that a combination of
diplomacy and sanctions can stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons? Is
there a good chance, some chance, little chance, or no chance? Good chance 5
Some chance 27 Little chance 45 No chance 23 Not sure 1

15. Would you support or oppose the United States taking military action
against Iran to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons?
Support 53 Oppose 42 Not sure 4

16. Would you support or oppose Israel taking military action against Iran
to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons? Support 62 Oppose 33 Not sure 5

17. Barack Obama has approved the deployment of an additional 30,000 U.S.
troops in Afghanistan. Do you agree or disagree with this decision? Agree 62
Disagree 35 Not Sure 4

18. I would like you to rate your feelings towards some countries, with one
hundred meaning a very warm, favorable feeling, zero meaning a very cold,
unfavorable feeling, and fifty meaning not particularly warm or cold. You
can use any number from zero to one hundred. How would you rate your
feelings toward . . . a. Russia 54 b. India 64 c. Venezuela 42 d. Jordan 47
e. Turkey 52 f. China 49 g. Egypt 49 h. United States 88 i. Saudi Arabia 34
j. Germany 57

E. Anti-Semitism

19. Do you think anti-Semitism in the United States is currently a very
serious problem, somewhat of a problem, or not a problem at all?
Very serious problem 25 Somewhat of a problem 66 Not a problem at all 9
Not sure 0

20. Do you think anti-Semitism in Europe is currently a very serious problem, somewhat of a problem, or not a problem at all? Very serious problem 51
Somewhat of a problem 44 Not a problem at all 3 Not sure 2

21. Do you think anti-Semitism in the Muslim world is currently a very
serious problem, somewhat of a problem, or not a problem at all?
Very serious problem 87 Somewhat of a problem 11 Not a problem at all 1
Not Sure 1

22. Looking ahead over the next several years, do you think that anti-Semitism around the world will increase greatly, increase somewhat, remain the same, decrease somewhat, or decrease greatly? Increase greatly 14 Increase somewhat 36 Remain the same 41 Decrease somewhat 7 Decrease greatly 1

F. Background Factors

23. In politics as of today, do you consider yourself a Republican, a Democrat, or an Independent? Republican 15 Democrat 50 Independent 32 Not sure 2

24. Do you think of yourself as . . .Orthodox 10 Conservative 24 Reconstructionist 2 Reform 26 Just Jewish 37 Not sure 1

25. How important would you say being Jewish is in your own life?
Very important 51 Fairly important 34 Not very important 15 Not sure 0

26. How close do you feel to Israel? Very close 30 Fairly close 44 Fairly distant 20 Very distant 5 Not sure 0

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IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il

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