According to a major new poll by Public Opinion Strategies and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research commissioned by The Israel Project:
http://elections.jta.org/2008/03/31/who-loves-israel-most/
* 80 percent agree that now is the time to toughen sanctions to compel Iran to stop developing nuclear weapons;
* More Americans than ever believe the U.S. should take Israel’s side in the conflict;
* Fully 76 percent of U.S. likely voters consider Israel a vital ally of the U.S.;
* Fully 89 percent believe Palestinian leaders must end the culture of hate that encourages children to become suicide bombers;
The full results of the poll are found below and here. They are fascinating. The support for Israel is wide and deep and cuts across party lines. (See below for more evidence of this, the Congressional resolution on Jews from Arab lands). But in looking closely at the raw results, what struck me most were these two questions:
54. And, do you happen to have a friend, family member or co-worker who is Jewish?
45% YES, FRIEND
12% YES, FAMILY MEMBER
17% YES, CO-WORKER
54% TOTAL YES
44% NO
3% DON’T KNOW/REFUSED
(IF Q87:1-3, THEN ASKED:)
55. And, have any of your Jewish contacts spoken to you about Israel this year?
18% YES
82% NO
Let’s look at that for a second: The poll results, reflecting American demographic trends, show 3% of their sample as being Jewish. Yet fully 12% of the sample said that they have a Jewish family member. This points to the growing impact of dual faith households.
But even more shocking, from a northeastern perspective, is that nearly half of all Americans do not know anyone well who is Jewish – no friends, family or co-workers. And of those who have Jewish contacts, fewer than one in five of those contacts have spoken about Israel.
So, without Jews advocating for Israel – nearly half of all Americans not knowing any Jews… STILL the support for Israel is zooming skyward.
So much for the power of the Jewish Lobby!
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