NEW AJC SURVEY

The AJC's 2005 Annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion is out. While American Jews support Israel's peace efforts, there are significant differences among Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jews.

• 48 percent of Orthodox, 77 percent of Conservative, and 70 percent of Reform Jews support the Israeli government's handling of relations with the Palestinian Authority, while 48 percent of Orthodox, 19 percent of Conservative and 21 percent of Reform are opposed.
• On the security fence, 91 percent of Orthodox, 80 percent of Conservative, and 66 percent of Reform support the Israeli decision to erect the fence, and 7 percent of Orthodox, 19 percent of Conservative and 29 percent of Reform are opposed.
• On the status of Jerusalem, 83 percent of Orthodox, 70 percent of Conservative and 50 percent of Reform Jews say Israel should not compromise on the status of Jerusalem as a united city under Israeli jurisdiction, while 12 percent of Orthodox, 28 percent of Conservative, and 43 percent of Reform Jews say Israel should compromise.
  

According to the 2005 survey, 60 percent of American Jews disapprove, and 36 percent approve, of how the U.S. government is handling the campaign against terrorism. In 2004, 52 percent disapproved and 42 percent approved.

Support for the war with Iraq also continues to decline. Seventy percent disapprove, and 28 percent approve, of the war. In AJC's 2004 survey, 66 percent disapproved and 30 percent approved, and in 2003 an AJC poll found 54 percent disapproving and 43 percent approving.

On Iran, which is pursuing a public campaign denying the Holocaust and threatening to destroy Israel, 49 percent of American Jews would support U.S. military action against Iran to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons, while 46 percent are opposed.

Although a large majority of American Jews — 78 percent — continue to believe that the goal of the Arabs is not the return of occupied territories but rather the destruction of Israel, support for compromise with the Palestinians to achieve peace is strong. According to the survey, 56 percent favor, and 38 percent oppose, the establishment of a Palestinian state.

On the issue of settlements, 15 percent would support dismantling all West Bank settlements as part of a permanent peace agreement with the Palestinians, 46 percent some, and 36 percent none.

While a large majority — 77 percent — of American Jews say they feel close to Israel, 59 percent of those surveyed have never visited the country, 20 percent only once and 20 percent more than once.

Forty-nine percent of those who have never been to Israel cited travel costs as the reason, while 20 percent pointed to personal safety concerns.

Anti-Semitism remains a major concern, so much so that a majority of American Jews — 62 percent — consider it a greater threat than intermarriage to Jewish life in the U.S.

• 27 percent indicated that anti-Semitism in the U.S. is a very serious problem, while 65 percent say it is somewhat of a problem. Only 8 percent take the view that it is not a problem at all.
• 25 percent think anti-Semitism on U.S. college campuses is a very serious problem, 54 percent somewhat of a problem, and 13 percent not a problem at all.
• 40 percent believe anti-Semitism in the U.S. will increase over the next several years, while 48 percent say it will remain the same. Muslims are viewed as the most anti-Semitic group in the U.S., compared with Asian, blacks, Hispanics, Catholics and Evangelical Protestants.
  

Moreover, looking around the world, 76 percent think that anti-Semitism in the Muslim world is a very serious problem, and 22 percent say it is somewhat of a problem.