How we see Israel
THE Israel Survey today lifts the lid on Anglo-Jewry's attitudes towards the Jewish state and its policies.
It paints a picture of a community with deep personal connections to the country, ready to adopt a hard line on security issues while espousing dovish views on key policy issues. It reflects, say the report's authors, "a deep-set desire to see the country at peace".
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Several findings in the 54-page report, entitled Committed, Concerned and Conciliatory: The attitudes of Jews in Britain Towards Israel, will generate sustained debate in the community and beyond; none more so than the finding that 52 percent 'agree' or 'strongly agree' that 'the government of Israel should negotiate with Hamas in its efforts to achieve peace', with 39 percent disagreeing. But the report suggests that a degree of caution is being expressed even by those advocating talks, with just a third agreeing strongly with the statement.
JPR Executive Director Jonathan Boyd, who authored the report with Dr David Graham, the organisation's head of social and democratic research, said: "It seems that we are so eager to see peace that we are even willing, albeit cautiously and reluctantly, to see the Israeli government sit down with an organisation known mainly for the terrorist atrocities it has committed against Israelis."
With this contentious question, as with others, the survey also reveals a gulf in opinion between those who describe themselves as 'religious' and those who self-define as 'secular'. Secular Jews were almost twice as likely as religious respondents to agree to talks with Hamas: 67 percent to 35 percent.
There was also a gulf between religious and secular when it came to the question of giving up territory, with almost half of the former supporting such a proposal and 76 percent among the latter. Overall, two thirds favour giving up land for peace while 74 percent oppose the expansion of existing settlements in the West Bank.
While there may be a few eyebrows raised over certain findings, others may have been widely expected. The survey pointed to backing for Israel's security fence and last year's Operation Cast Lead, which followed years of rocket attacks against Israel. Seventy-two percent saw the fence as 'vital for Israel's security', and the same percentage agreed that the Gaza conflict was 'a legitimate act of self-defence'."
The community was unequivocal when it came to the strength of personal connections to the state. Trevor Pears, Executive Chair of the Pears Foundation, which supported the study, said: "The research provides evidence that British Jews can hold critical opinions of some of Israel's policies, whilst still retaining a strong positive attachment to the country as a whole."
A staggering 95 percent of respondents have visited the country, 82 percent said the Jewish state plays a 'central' or 'important but not central' role in their Jewish identities and more than one in five respondents indicated that they were 'very likely' or 'fairly likely' to live in Israel in the future.
That said, 60 percent of those answering the survey reported that Israel is not an issue or just one of several issues that influences their voting behaviour in Britain, compared to just 36 percent that said it was 'the central' or a 'high priority' issue. A key battleground when it comes to Israel is the media; and it was a question related to this issue which produced one of the most significant divisions of opinion.
Thirty-five percent said Jewish people should 'always' feel free to criticise Israel in the British media, compared with 38 percent who felt there were some circumstances where this could be justified and 25 percent who thought it was 'never' justified.
In addition to looking into how religious levels impact on views on Israel, JPR also examined the impact of respondents labelling themselves as Zionist or non-Zionists. The study said Zionists, who made up 72 percent of the sample, are more likely to exhibit greater support for Israel and the choices its government makes.
Under a headline 'repositioning the meaning of Zionist', the report says: "It seems that today the term Zionist and non-Zionist are less directly associated with their classical meaning, and more closely related to the extent to which Jews in Britian are sympathetic to, or critical of, Israeli government policy."
Boyd said he hoped the survey would "encourage debate about our individual and collective relationship with Israel. I see JPR's roles as delivering data to be used by the community to help it shape future policy. I hope this data will contribute in to that process."
http://www.totallyjewish.com/news/national/c-14360/talk-to-hamas/
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