'Talk To Hamas'
MORE THAN half of British Jews believe Israel should negotiate with Hamas.
That's the startling finding of the largest ever national survey of community members in this country, published today by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research.
Top stories
- Eichmann was just 'hours from capture' in 1949
- Clinton: 'Direct peace talks can end conflict in one year'
- Top marks for Jewish schools
And while the international community continues to refuse to deal directly with Hamas until it renounces violence and recognises Israel's right to exist, 52 percent of respondents to the online Israel Survey said Benjamin Netanyahu's government should negotiate with Hamas to achieve peace. Just 39 percent were against any negotiations.
JPR Executive Director Jonathan Boyd, who co-authored the report, attributed the figures primarily to "the strong desire of Jews in Britain to see peace".
He told the Jewish News: "It is very important to contextualise it within the other results.
"For example, alongside support for talks with Hamas, almost three-quarters saw Operation Cast Lead as 'a legitimate act of self-defence'."
He added: "Taken as a whole, Jews in Britain are simultaneously dovish on key political issues and robust in their recognition of Israel’s security needs."
The report also reveals that an impressive 95 percent of survey respondents have visited Israel and 90 percent believe it is the "ancestral homeland" of the Jews, although for a majority the state is not the central issue when it came to voting in British elections.
http://www.totallyjewish.com/news/national/c-14363/how-we-see-israel/
Read the latest copy of The Jewish News Online by clicking here.
Other headlines
- Two new Jewish schools - 08/09/10
- Secret service to monitor Irving's death camp tour - 08/09/10
- Sixty thousand thank yous - 08/09/10
- Simcha turns into tragedy - 02/09/10
- Seeking peace: Bibi and Abbas begin historic talks - 02/09/10
- 'Peace in a year if the Palestinians give up violence' - 02/09/10
- Top London university to host pro-Hamas speakers - 26/08/10
- Jewish family in Nazi house - 26/08/10
- 'Save our cemetery' - 26/08/10
- Flotilla activist: 'Go back to Auschwitz' - 19/08/10
- Cemetery is granted major 1.5 million pound extension - 19/08/10
- Together at last! - 19/08/10
- Israel army chief says flotilla troops acted 'proportionately' - 12/08/10
- 'I feel closer to Yoni now' - 12/08/10
