Progressive Even on Palestine
A Palestinian man walks on his property overlooking the Israeli settlement of Har Homa in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. A new poll shows 75 per cent of British Jews believe settlement expansion is an “obstacle to peace”. In 2011 the United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution condemning such settlements as illegal.
Almost a quarter of British Jews would back ‘sanctions against Israel’, says new poll
The survey finds that many British Jews have grave misgivings over Israeli government policy, with 75 per cent believing settlement expansion is an “obstacle to peace”.
By David Blair, Daily Telegraph
November 12, 2015
Almost a quarter of British Jews would support “sanctions against Israel” under some conditions and 75 per cent believe that settlement expansion is an “obstacle” to peace, according to a survey to be released on Thursday.
The opinion poll, conducted by Ipsos-MORI and published by City University, shows that many British Jews oppose some of the central policies of Israel’s leadership.
In particular, 75 per cent believe the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank amounts to a “major obstacle to peace” and 68 per cent “feel a sense of despair every time Israel approves further expansion of settlements”.
Israel has condemned the European Commission’s decision to issue new guidelines allowing the labelling of products made in settlements. But 24 per cent of British Jews would be prepared to “support some sanctions against Israel” if this would “encourage the Israeli government to engage in the peace process”.
The proportion willing to back sanctions under these conditions rises to 41 per cent among British Jews under 30.
London, July 2011
“Members of Anglo-Jewry, who have previously been afraid to give voice to their concerns over Israeli government policy, should realise that they are in fact part of the majority,” said Hannah Weisfeld, the director of Yachad, an organisation of British Jews campaigning for a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
London rally, August 2014. Photo by AFP.
British Jews remain profoundly attached to Israel, with 84 per cent feeling a “deep sense of pride” in the country’s “achievements in art, science and technology”.
In some important respects, they also back the approach of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. Thus 70 per cent of British Jews want the Palestinians to recognise Israel “as a Jewish state, not just recognise Israel’s right to exist”.
Meanwhile, 93 per cent believe that Israel is “entitled to respond with military action to Hamas rocket attacks”.
Stabbings and car attacks have claimed the lives of 10 Israelis since Oct 1. Over the same period, 80 Palestinians have been shot dead, including 44 who were said to be carrying out attacks. Six Israelis were wounded in three separate incidents last Sunday alone.
“There are real concerns within the community about the security situation in Israel, with the majority agreeing that the only way out of continued rounds of violence is through a political agreement with the Palestinian people,” said Ms Weisfeld, whose organisation funded the poll.
Attitudes of British Jews towards Israel revealed in new study
Research team led by Stephen Miller, Emeritus Professor in the Department of Sociology
By Ed Grover, Senior Communications Officer, City University
November 12, 2015
A new study of the attitudes of British Jews shows that the vast majority support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state (90%) but there is widespread unease with the country’s policies.
The majority express “a deep sense of pride” in Israel’s achievements in art, science and technology (84%), but almost three quarters (73%) now believe the nation’s approach to peace is damaging “to its standing in the world”.
Around half also consider that the Israeli government is “constantly creating obstacles to avoid engaging in peace negotiations”.
Demonstration in Manchester, July 2014. From Mancunian Matters
Based on data collected by the independent research organisation Ipsos MORI, the research team – led by Professor Stephen Miller, City University London – concluded that the majority of British Jews hold “dovish” views on the conflict and see Israel as having a negative approach to the peace process.
It is the first significant study of British Jewish attitudes to Israel since 2010, when a similar survey was conducted by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR). The new survey found that 71% see the two-state solution as the only way Israel can achieve peace and 72% reject the statement that “the Palestinians have no legitimate claim to a land of their own”.
When asked to select priorities for the new Israeli government, elected in 2015, “pursuing peace negotiations with the Palestinians” was the most commonly selected goal, followed by “halting the expansion of settlements”. Three quarters see Israeli settlement expansion as a “major obstacle to peace” (75%) and 68% say they have a “sense of despair” every time further expansion is approved.
In relation to the conflict in Gaza in 2014,Israel flag the overwhelming majority (93%) say that the country was entitled to respond to Hamas rocket attacks with military action, but the respondents are divided on whether the scale of Israel’s response was proportionate (56%) or disproportionate (37%). A further 5% say that a military response was not justified.
Pro-Israel, anti-Hamas rally. London 2006.
The research also shows that those with the most “hawkish” views on Israel are prone to over-estimating how many other Jews agree with them – they believe that their own opinions are roughly twice as common as the research suggests they are.
Since the 2010 JPR survey, the number of respondents who describe themselves as Zionists appears to have fallen from 72% to about 59%, although the authors argue that this probably reflects changes in the way the word ‘Zionist’ is interpreted.
Other key findings include:
93% say Israel plays a part in their Jewish identity, 73% see it as an “important” or “central” part and a further 20% say it plays “some” role.
There is strong support for Israel to “cede territory” in order to achieve peace (62% for, 25% against). But if withdrawal is seen as posing a risk to Israel’s security, the majority then oppose withdrawal (50%:33%).
58% agree with the statement that Israel “will be seen as an apartheid state if it tries to retain control over borders that contain more Arabs than Jews” (22% disagree).
The majority (66%) is strongly opposed to sanctions being imposed on Israel, but a significant minority (24%) say they “would support some sanctions” if they thought that would encourage the Israeli government to engage in the peace process.
Although there is strong opposition to the expansion of settlements, only a minority (32%) would support “tougher action” by the UK government to oppose expansion.
Almost 80% of respondents consider that, in the context of the conflicts raging around the world, those who condemn Israel’s military actions “are guilty of applying double standards”.
The most dovish views on Israel are found among younger respondents, those with a high level of academic achievement (masters or doctorate) and those belonging to a progressive synagogue or to no synagogue at all.
Background information
The survey was conducted between March and July 2015 and the findings are based on the responses of 1,131 British Jews. The data were collected online by Ipsos MORI.
The sample was recruited using a combination of sampling techniques designed to maximise representativeness – the data were weighted to reflect the profile of the adult Jewish population of the UK with respect to age, patterns of synagogue affiliation, level of education and political affiliation.
The research design, analysis and interpretation of the data was carried out by a research team comprising: Stephen Miller, Emeritus Professor of Social Research in the Department of Sociology at City University London; Margaret Harris, Emeritus Professor of Voluntary Sector Organisation, Aston University, and Visiting Professor at Birkbeck, University of London; and Colin Shindler, Emeritus Professor of Israel Studies, SOAS, University of London.
The research was funded by Yachad, a British, pro-Israel, pro-peace campaigning group.
Professor Miller said:
The way in which British Jews engage with Israel is sometimes the focus of intense debate, and sometimes just taken for granted, but rarely is it subjected to serious empirical analysis. This study, together with the 2010 survey conducted by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, start to provide some hard data.
Our research shows that although British Jews are overwhelmingly supportive of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, proud of its achievements and mindful of its security needs, their attitudes to its policies and conduct are far more diverse, and far more critical, than many would have expected.
Whilst the majority view on issues like settlement expansion, withdrawal from the West Bank and Palestinian rights to a homeland is decidedly dovish, there is a significant minority who take a more hawkish position – for example, opposing the ceding of territory for peace, rejecting the idea that Israel is an occupying power in the West Bank or that the Palestinians have a right to a land of their own.
These wide variations in political attitude are not randomly distributed through the Jewish community; they are closely associated with religious and educational divisions within it. This raises important questions about how the diversity of British Jewish opinion can be fairly represented to the British public. And more fundamentally, how these differences in opinion, associated as they are with existing segmentation on religious lines, will impact on the concept of ‘community’ as applied to British Jews.
Our data also raise some intriguing questions about the changing construction of the term ‘Zionism’ and about the mechanisms by which British Jews judge how well their personal views accord with the opinions of others.
Links
Read the full report, The Attitudes of British Jews Towards Israel, pdf
Some other coverage:
Poll: British Jews Are pro-Israel but Critical of Its Government, Haaretz, November 12th, 2015Poll of British Jews finds widespread unease with Israel’s policies, Guardian, November 12th.
Almost a quarter of British Jews would back ‘sanctions against Israel’, says new poll
The survey finds that many British Jews have grave misgivings over Israeli government policy, with 75 per cent believing settlement expansion is an “obstacle to peace”. Daily Telegraph, November 12th