Poll: 25% of American Jews Think Israel Apartheid State

YERUSHALAYIM

A new survey reveals widespread acceptance of anti-Israel propaganda among American Jews.

The survey found that some 34 percent of respondents agreed that “Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is similar to racism in the United States,” 25% agreed that “Israel is an apartheid state” and 22% agreed that “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians,” according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on Tuesday.

The research into the views of Jewish voters in the U.S. was commissioned by the Jewish Electorate Institute, a group led by prominent Jewish Democrats.

Younger respondents were found to hold more critical view of Israel than older people.

While 9% of voters agreed with the statement “Israel doesn’t have a right to exist,” among voters under 40, the number was 20%. A third of younger voters feel that Israel is committing genocide, a position that even human rights lawyers who are critical of Israel say is extreme; and more than a third agreed that Israel is an apartheid state, JTA said.

Of the statements about Israel cited above, only in one case, did a majority — 67% — agree that it was antisemitic to say, “Israel doesn’t have a right to exist.” For the other questions, the majority said they were not antisemitic.

Despite the unusually high level of agreement with criticisms of Israel compared to other recent polling, when asked if they felt emotionally attached to Israel, 62% said they did, versus 38% who said they did not, which was consistent with previous polling.

The survey of 800 voters, conducted by GBAO Strategies from June 28 to July 1 online and via texts, has an overall margin of error of 3.5 percentage points; the replies of those under 40 have a margin of error of 6 percentage points. (The margin of error for the Orthodox subgroup was 11.6 percentage points.)

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