American Jewish Student Opinion on Israel
Washington, Dec. 20 - Young Jews on university campuses across the country are highly supportive of Israel,
a new study shows. The data, representing 400 Jewish undergraduate students, clearly shows a high level of connection with Israel, belying the supposed generational
erosion of support in the American Jewish
community. The survey was sponsored jointly by The Israel Project
and the American Israeli Cooperative Enterprise,
and conducted by Public Opinion Strategies.
Mitchell Bard, Executive
Director of the nonprofit American Israeli
Cooperative Enterprise (AICE) and co-funder of the research, further
explains, “Contrary to the claims of some outspoken critics, young Jews do not feel alienated from Israel. Our survey found that Jews have very positive feelings toward Israel,
see it as the spiritual center of the Jewish
people; believe that caring about Israel is an important part of being Jewish,
think American and Israeli Jews share a common destiny and agree American
Jews should support the policies of the government and express any
criticism privately.”
The question of closeness to Israel in this student survey intentionally mirrored the AJC’s
annual survey of the national
Jewish community, and found that the numbers for the two groups
were almost identical. Among Jewish students, 66 percent say they feel close to Israel,
compared to 68 percent of national
Jews.
In examining the elements that impact Jewish students’
connection to Israel, it is clear
that Jewish lifestyle engagement
has a huge affect on these measurements. Students are much more prone
to feel close to Israel if they have
attended day school (77 percent ‘close’), attended summer
camp (78 percent), had a Bar/Bat
Mitzvah (73 percent), or been involved with youth
groups (78 percent).
Another factor in closeness to Israel is campus involvement. Among those involved in a Jewish
campus organization (a little over half of Jewish students), 78 percent feel close to Israel. But, among those not involved,
the number drops to only 52 percent. In looking at the various organizations
on campus, it is clear that Hillel has a dominant position in connecting
with these young Jews; 48 percent of Jewish students say that they are
involved with Hillel. The next organization on the list is in the single
digits.
Jewish students use overwhelmingly positive language when asked for one word to describe Israel. Click here to see a word
cloud of all the open-ended answers given on the survey.
Among the Jewish students, fully 47 percent of have
been to Israel; 16 percent of have
attended Birthright, and 13 percent have been on a teen tour. Having
this many young Jews visit Israel before finishing college is
a significant amount, as the AJC found that only 44 percent of the national
Jewish community has been to Israel.
Of those Jewish students who have not been to Israel, three-fourths
(73 percent) express a desire to visit. Having been to Israel is also a factor that shows a strong correlation to support for Israel,
and an ability and willingness to speak to others on the issue.
Critically, the survey shows that 70 percent of Jewish
students consider themselves well-enough informed on Israel to speak to non-Jews about the issue. But, only 44 percent say that
they actually talk about Israel with
non-Jews either a lot (7 percent) or some (37 percent). Said Jennifer
Laszlo Mizrahi, founder and president of The Israel Project which co-funded
the research, “It is critical to get young
Jews comfortable enough speaking about Israel that they can do so
with their non-Jewish peers.”
Looking at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the
political context of whom the United States SHOULD support, Jewish students again reaffirm their position with 84
percent saying Israel. And, on a
0-to-100 scale, 89 percent of the Jewish students give Israel a ‘warm’ rating.
The top reasons Jewish
students say the U.S. should support Israel are shared values (43 percent) and being the most important ally in
the Middle East (37 percent). Also notable are the partnership in the
fight against terrorism (27 percent) and efforts for peace (23 percent).
Less important reasons include religious justifications, and technological
or economic achievements.
Among the Jewish
students, mainstream media continues to play a significant role
in shaping views of the Middle East. But unlike non-Jewish populations
we have surveyed, “family and friends” and “your own
religious beliefs” are also significant shapers of opinion. This
finding highlights the significance of the community in developing the
next generations connection to, and information regarding, Israel.
Said Mizrahi, “It is clear that we must continue
to act as an educational resource for the mainstream media to ensure
accurate and fair coverage of Israel.
However, there is also a clear role that the community as a whole must
play in educating our youth, and TIP is looking forward to working with
organizations active in this field to strengthen communications targeted
at our future community leaders.”
The survey (Interview
Schedule; Word Clouds)
was conducted online by Public Opinion Strategies from October 28-November
20, 2011. Interviews of 400 self-identified Jewish were collected. The
margin of error is +4.9%.
Sources: American Israeli Cooperative Enterprise
and
The Israel Project |