B’nai B’rith World Center annual survey on contemporary attitudes toward Diaspora Jews reveals that Israelis’ willingness to spend tax money to help Diaspora Jews is in decline and that Israeli Jews are divided on whether the U.S. is helping or hindering the peace process with the Palestinians.
One thing survey takers could rally behind was their support of programs to bring Diaspora Jews to Israel, like Taglit-Birthright.
The B’nai B’rith World Center Seventh Annual Survey on Contemporary Israeli Attitudes toward Diaspora Jewry found that a majority of Israeli Jews — 52 percent — thought that Israel should strive to be a Jewish democratic state. Sixteen percent felt that Israel should strive to be a liberal democratic state, another 16% strove for a Jewish state, while only 13% thought Israel should be a democratic state.
The poll, which encompassed 507 Jewish respondents, 18 years of age or older, found Israelis split on the question of whether the U.S. had helped or impeded the peace process with the Palestinians. Only 1% of the public felt that the U.S. “considerably promoted” progress in recent years, while 32% felt that the U.S. “somewhat promoted” progress, 26% felt that the U.S. somewhat impeded progress and 8% thought that the U.S. had significantly impeded progress.
Just over half of the respondents (51%) thought that the most efficient way for the government to combat global anti-Semitism is to encourage immigration to Israel.
Fifty-six percent of the respondents said that they would support the establishment of a so-called “Jewish parliament” — a new statutory body located in Israel that would represent the Jewish people in the Diaspora, while 23% were against it. Among Kadima voters, 88% were in favor of this Jewish parliament and 13% were against, 63% of Labor voters were in favor, with 28% against, and 83% of Shas voters were in favor, with 17% against.
However, most Israelis were opposed to representation of Diaspora Jews in Israel’s Knesset. When asked whether they support a mechanism by which a few Knesset members would be elected by Israeli citizens living abroad, only 29% of the respondents were in favor, while 51% were against. A similar mechanism under which a few Knesset members would be elected by Diaspora Jews was rejected by an even bigger majority: 63% were opposed while 21% were in favor.
An overwhelming majority of the respondents — 80% — voiced support for allocating some of their tax money to fund programs such as Taglit-Birthright Israel and Masa Israel Journey, to build support for Israel among Diaspora Jews by funding trips to Israel for Jewish youth. Among Shas voters, the support for funding these programs with tax money stood at 100%.
But the poll indicated that there has been a sharp decline in Israeli willingness to allocate tax money to helping Diaspora Jewish communities, especially in times of financial crisis. The support declined from 59% in 2009 to 46% in 2012.
An overwhelming majority of Israelis (76%) disagreed with Peter Beinart’s call on American Jews to “boycott the settlements” while only 31% agreed with Beinart’s statement that “liberal ideals outlined by Israel’s founders were brutally flouted.”
“This survey has demonstrated the enduring connection between Israelis and Diaspora Jews,” Alan Schneider, the director of the B’nai B’rith World Center said in a statement. “Clearly, Israelis are committed to finding a vehicle for including and expanding the opinions and participation of Diaspora Jews in Israel.”
The survey was conducted by KEEVOON Research on June 20; it has a margin of error of 4.5%.
@ C.R.:
First of all it’s none of your business. 2ndly it’s none of your business. 3rdly it’s none of your business.
You should concern yourself how the American crooks spend your tax dollars.
Give me an example of where democracy has ever worked? ‘Moral’ according to what and who?
You believe that the stupid Christian moral majority is more moral than we are? ROFLOL
Sorry to pop your baloon but the majority of Jews in and out of Israel are quite Capitalistic.
Yes your are right we imported those concepts from you Christians in America who value tolerance above G-d, our G-d, not yours.
Judaism is antidemocratic. Seems your concept of democracy is when most agree with you it’s good and workable but when they don’t agree with you it’s not democratic and unworkable.
No Jew from the diaspora has any rights or any say in Israel, our society or our policies until they have served 3 years in the IDF or security services as well as their children.
Donations even large donations give the donors the privilege to immigrate to Israel if they can prove that they are Jewish, and the personal satisfaction that they did something good for another Jew.
The time for diaspora Jewry to sh…or get off the pot is close if already not here. We will not allow them to destroy us in Israel as they have themselves to themselves.
At least Taglit supports our tourism industry.
So much for the purported “majority” often blabbed about by the local and the foreign media as well as by the post Jewish drifters themselves.
The MAJORITY of the Jewish people here was, is and will be identified with a JEWISH democratic… state. Adding both subgroups represent a whooping 68% of the people here.
And NO! We do not need US Jews or unJews to be part from there in any Jewish Israeli government structure. They made their choice.
We all envision a conclusively DEMOCRATIC State. The perverted form represented by the so called “israeli demokratiahh” constructed by violent elites and extreme post Jewish cadres is NOT part of that vision.
The later is as much democratic as Oslo is a “peace process”.
The poll is representative of the truth.
The Israeli government should not be spending tax money to bring Jews into Israel–this is for private citizens to spendtheirmoney for this purpose.
Democracy mostly only works for good when the people are highly moral–and this is not true of most of the Jewish people either inside or outside of Israel.
The majority of Jews adherence to Godless cultural Marxism–and not properly dealing with the problem of Islam and of Arabs within Israel–which has caused much innocent Jewish blood to be needlessly spilled–of allowing the genocidal mass murder of the Jewish unborn, en masse–allowing homosexual day parades on the streets of Yerushalayim–all of the above are abominations to God and bring God’s judgement with them!
The Jewish people cannot handle democracy–they have proven this for thousands of years–they have also proven their overwhelming capacity to rebel against God and cause all manner of harm to themselves and to others.
I believe that the Taglit program is a big waste of money. While the trip is a fantastic trip, big time party, and free, most kids return from Israel unchanged, like both my nieces, who went, had a great trip, drank and partied a lot, and returned to resume being the same uneducated Jewish girls, who don’t know even the most basics of their Jewish tradition and background, and who are currently looking for another free trip, maybe Australia, maybe South Korea to teach English.
That we can spend so much money in a useless party for kids, at a time when Jewish education in Northamerica is so expensive, is an oxymoron. These moneys would be better spent lowering tuition in private Jewish schools and encouraging attendance. At least you would end up with educated Jews, who on their own, would know the importance of Israel and would eventually find their way there.
The “Jewish Parliament” would consist primarily or US Jews. Why have it in Israel? Wouldn’t it be more cost effective to have it in the NYC area? Do American Jews need yet ANOTHER organization? For what???