AJC poll indicates that 70% of U.S. Jews oppose the war in Iraq
By: Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent on: 20.12.2005 [21:57 ] (109 reads)
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NEW YORK - Approximately 70 percent of Jews in the United States oppose the war in Iraq, compared to 28 percent who support the war, according to a poll conducted by the American Jewish Committee. The poll indicates that 60 percent of U.S. Jews do not agree with the manner in which the U.S. government is conducting the war on terror.
The poll, to be published Wednesday, includes a special section on questions examining U.S. Jews' attitudes on relations with Israel. According to the poll, 59 percent of Jews in the U.S. have never visited Israel; 20 percent of those polled have visited Israel once, and another 20 percent said they had visited Israel more than once.
Of those who have never visited Israel, 49 percent cited the cost of the flight as the main reason, while 20 percent said security concerns were the reason, and 18 percent said they had never visited Israel due to "lack of interest."
Some 79 percent of those polled said that concern for Israel is a main part of their lives as Jews, while 19 percent disagreed with this statement.
According to the poll, 36 percent of American Jews consider themselves very close to Israel, while 41 percent regarded themselves as somewhat close to Israel; 5 percent of respondents said they feel very distant from Israel.
When asked whether they are more optimistic regarding chances of peace between Israel and the Palestinians compared to last year, 21 percent said they are more optimistic, while 19 percent said they were less optimistic; 59 percent of those polled said their opinion had not changed in the past year.
Some 32 percent of those polled said they were Conservative Jews, 29 percent regarded themselves as Reform, 10 percent as Orthodox and 2 percent as Reconstructionist.
Only 16 percent of those polled said they were Republicans, while 54 percent said they were Democrats; 29 percent said they were Independents.
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