US Jews Support Israel--Just Not Out Loud

A recent poll was conducted for The Israel Project and found that

Among the 800 American Jews that took part in the survey, 82% said they support Israel, most of them characterizing themselves as strong supporters. Analyzing the supporters, Luntz found that backing Israel is stronger among older Jews, among those who belong to the Conservative movement and among Jews who attended Jewish day schools and visited Israel.

While the support for Israel seemed solid, pollster Luntz warned from "disturbing signs that support could shift in the wrong direction". He noted that one in five American Jews does not support Israel in questions concerning its conflict with the Palestinians. " Every day people are dying and in this conflict I would like to see 90% backing Israel", he added.

The poll mentions the Conservative movement, but what about identification with Israel in the US among the Orthodox? Yitzchak Mansdorf did a survey of his own last year and writes about the results:

But Orthodoxy in Jewish America revolves around a different type of identity. Divorced from concerns regarding national character, American Orthodoxy today has developed into a force that has truly assimilated into the modern world.

One world with which American Orthodoxy has not totally assimilated itself, however, is Israel. While Orthodox Jews appear to reflexively and enthusiastically support political positions that mirror the Israeli far right, this does not always appear to be out of an educated understanding of the issues involved. However zealous the American Orthodox community is in expressing this fervor, it falls short when it comes to effectively educating its youth in a fundamental aspect of the modern Jewish personality.

What few dare to speak of publicly or admit is the relative failure of Modern Orthodoxy in America today to inculcate its youth with a functional and articulate Zionist identity. With some notable exceptions, the same youth that routinely profess undying love of “Eretz Yisrael” do not speak passable Hebrew, have little knowledge of contemporary Israeli society and do not have the skills or knowledge to effectively advocate for Israel.

You can also read responses to Mansdorf's conclusions by Jewish educators.

Still 80% support is not bad. The problem is that many who support Israel do not preach what they practice:

But even with significant support rates for Israel in the American Jewish community, the poll finds a problem in translating this support to an active pro-Israeli discourse in the American society. When asked if they engage in conversation about Israel or defend Israel while talking to non-Jews, most of the participants replied negatively. Only 29% talk about Israel frequently, while 61% almost never do so.

This finding is significant because it demonstrates the difficulty of promoting a pro-Israel agenda in the US, where, according to another poll performed by The Israel Project, graduate students in the US "are misinformed about the Arab-Israeli conflict and hold negative attitudes towards Jews".

I wonder if talking favorably about Israel has become about as popular as claiming to be a "Zionist"--thanks to the UN. Something similar has happened to the word 'Jew'. Are you Jewish or are you a Jew?

Jonah Goldberg writes:

For centuries "Jew" was the preferred pejorative term for Jewish people. For example, "Don't Jew me" meant don't haggle me down to the lowest possible price. "Dirty" or "filthy Jew" were standard parings. Benjamin Disraeli the 19th century British Prime Minister offered perhaps the most famous defense of the word when he was taunted about being a Jew in parliament. "Yes, I am a Jew, and when the ancestors of the right honorable gentleman were brutal savages in an unknown island, mine were priests in the temple of Solomon."

Still Hitler was largely successful in smearing the word "Jew." The word was so beaten up that after the Holocaust most American Jews took to saying, "I'm Jewish," rather than say, "I am a Jew."

Given the atmosphere at universities these days, it is not easy to stand up and talk about Israel--let alone defend her.

The Israel Project poll also points the way to teach about Israel:

The poll, published in Washington Thursday, found that most of the younger Jews get their information about Israel mostly from the media and the internet, as opposed to the older generation who learned about Israel from parents, schools and temples. Jennifer Laszlo-Mizrahi, president and founder of The Israel Project pointed out that these findings underline the need for Jewish parents taking a stronger role in educating their children about Israel and for the whole community to make sure that the media portrays Israel in an accurate fashion.

Frank Luntz found in the survey he conducted that if young Jews are exposed to information on Israel before they turn 10 years old, they tend to hold positive views on Israel, while those who learn on Israel in high school or college, usually develop negative views. The reason is that while young children learn about the history, people and religion in Israel, the older learn about Israel with a focus on politics and on the Arab-Israeli conflict.

For all the good that blogs may be able to do on Israel's behalf, it may be limited to enforcing the views one already has--and not change anyone's views. That's something.

But defending Israel--like so many things--begins at home.

Crossposted at Israpundit

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