American Jews back Obama on Israel

[Ian David]

* POLITICO
* Ben Smith
April 09, 2010

Do you approve or disapprove of the Obama administration's handling of U.S.-Israel relations?

A new, annual survey of American Jewish public opinion by the American Jewish Committee finds that Jews, by and large, continue to approve of Obama — 57 percent say they approve of the job he's doing — and also back his handling of Israel.

The 55 percent who approve of Obama's Israel policy is a slight improvement on the finding in the same survey last year, while the disapproval number has ticked up slightly more.

The survey is a reminder of what surveys of American Jews regularly find: They're still overwhelmingly Democratic, and many self-identified Jews responding to polls are more liberal, and less focused on specifically Jewish issues, than the communal leadership.

<snip>

ALSO: Confusingly, only a slightly slimmer majority approves of Netanyahu's performance, and a solid majority opposes dividing Jerusalem.

More:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0410/American_Jews_back_Obama_on_Israel.html


Hat-tip to: http://www.thepoliticalcarnival.net/2010/04/american-jews-back-obama-on-israel.html

[elleng]

1. They didn't ask ME!

[protest_dude]

2. Why not?

Why wouldn't they support his policies? If you listen to anybody but FOX news, he is an ubber-zionist.

Yeah, he met with Edward Said I think, but he really is a good friend of Zionism.

He and AIPAC are pretty tight.

He's not a "secret muslim" by any means.

[Ian David]

3. But the majority of American Jews are also opposed to AIPAC.

New Poll - American Jews Strongly Opposed to AIPAC's Positions
by Shane Hensinger
New Poll - American Jews Strongly Opposed to AIPAC's PositionsTweet this submit to reddit Share This
Mon Mar 22, 2010 at 02:28:22 PM PDT

J Street just released results of recent polling into the opinions of the American Jewish community on President Obama as well as American involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. If you're a stats nut (like myself) it makes for fascinating reading. I've supplied some of the most interesting portions below.

More:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/3/22/163716/610

[peacetalksforall]

4. Thanks for posting this. I am feeling comforted. I stand with the majority

who took this poll. I wish us all well and successful in this path.

Thanks again. k 'n r (Edited to add - that I thought I was posting to the op) Excuse me - I meant the Daily Kos. I replied correctly.

[protest_dude]

6. Great news!!!!! Thanks for informing me!!!!

I also assumed the few Jewish Anti-Zionist friends I have are a small minority. This is a great development. I know a friend of mine who's mother is a holocaust survivor and militant zionist was outraged about the recent stuff in the Gaza strip. She compared what Israel did to what the Nazis did, a statement she would never have made in years prior.

This is a good sign.

Zionism was horrific. It enabled the horrors of the holocaust to be manipulated by the media to allow another holocaust against Palestinians to take place.

Ironically, the original Zionists and the "Labour Zionists" would never have let it happen the way it did in 1948, but that's another story.

When Zionism stopped being a Jewish Nationalist movement, and was taken over by Anti-Semitic capitalists after WWII, it was a problem.

Zionism was used to help keep the middle east under control after WWII when the people of Egypt, Iran, Iraq, etc. rose up, threw off British Colonialism, and started alligning with the Soviet block.

Israel is the middle east, what Colombia is to Latin America.

[oberliner]

7. The poll actually shows 64 percent agreeing with the AIPAC position

There is essentially one question cited from the poll that has led the Daily Kos poster to come to their erroneous conclusion.

There are two statements listed one appearing to represent AIPAC's position, the other J Street's position with respect to the recent incident with Biden's visit to Israel.

Sixty-four percent of respondents said they agreed with AIPAC's position on the matter, while seventy-three percent agreed with the J Street position. This indicates that the two positions are not mutually exclusive.

In any case, the claim that American Jews are "strongly opposed to AIPAC's positions" is not at all born out by this poll.

Check out the slide show on J Street's website, specifically slide 16:

http://www.jstreet.org/page/polling-of-american-jews

[azurnoir]

5. Thank you n/t