As Gaza conflict escalates, here’s what American Jews think about Israel
A survey by the Pew Research Center, published Tuesday, tells us a lot about how American Jews feel about Israel and Israeli Jews. This does not yet include their observations on Israel’s latest conflict with Hamas in Gaza. But American Jews are watching and assessing.
According to Pew, most American Jews feel some emotional attachment to Israel, follow news in Israel and say they have something in common with Israeli Jews. Nearly half have traveled to the country.
But most rate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, negatively. Only one-third of American Jews say Israel is making a sincere effort for peace with the Palestinians. And 10% of American Jews say they support BDS, the movement to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel.
The vast majority of American Jews say caring about Israel is important to being Jewish. More than 80% of American Jews said caring about Israel was an important or essential part of what being Jewish means to them. A majority of respondents agreed with that statement across age groups, religious movements and political parties. Orthodox or Republican Jews tend to display higher levels of support for Israel, while unaffiliated Jews show lower levels of support.
Among Jews overall, 45% said caring about Israel was essential to being Jewish, and an additional 37% called it important to being Jewish. Among Conservative
Jews, 66% said caring about Israel was essential and just 4% said it was not relevant to being Jewish.
The group that placed the least importance on caring about Israel were “Jews of no religion” — those who, according to Pew, “identify religiously as atheist, agnostic or nothing in particular.” Still, more than two-thirds of that group said caring about Israel was important or essential, while 31% said it was not important. And more than 70% of Jewish adults under 30 rated caring about Israel important or essential to being Jewish.
Overall, 58%, feel emotionally attached to Israel, including majorities of Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jews, more than 70% among Republicans, a slim majority among Democrats. Support increases with age, from 48% of under-30s to two-thirds of over 65s. The group with the lowest level of attachment, 33%, are Jews of no religion.
Some 45% of American Jews have been to Israel and more than 25% have been to Israel more than once. Most Jews seek information about it and feel they have something in common with Jews living there, with 57% following Israeli news very or somewhat closely, rising to more than 70% among Orthodox and Conservative Jews.
Among Jews aged 25 to 34, one in four have gone on Birthright, the free 10-day trip to Israel for young Jews.
About 59% said they have something or much in common with Jews in Israel while most unaffiliated Jews have not. A 2016 Pew survey of Israeli Jews found that 68% said they had a lot or something in common with American Jews.
Only a third think Israel is sincere about peace with the Palestinians. While 40% said Netanyahu’s leadership was “excellent or good” a third rated his leadership as “fair or poor,” As expected Netanyahu was rated highest by Republicans and Orthodox respondents, and lowest by respondents under 30, by unaffiliated Jews and Democrats. Only 25% of Democrats said he was excellent or good.
Still, nearly two-thirds of American Jews believe that Israel can find a way to coexist peacefully with a Palestinian state (while Israelis, by contrast are pessimistic that a twostate solution will emerge.)
Although only 20% among Jewish Democrats believe Israel is sincere about making peace with the Palestinians, every segment of the Jewish population believes Israel is more sincere about peace than the Palestinians are.
The survey asked whether respondents had heard of the BDS movement, then asked those familiar with it whether they supported or opposed it.
Most American Jews, 56%, have heard a lot or something about BDS. and 10% supported it, including 13% of Democrats and those under 30. While 43% overall opposed the movement, just 2% strongly supported BDS, and 34% strongly opposed it. (JTA)
reported close to the Lod train station, leading to the temporary train service from Tel Aviv Hahagana Station to Lod.
Riot police responded with stun grenades and pepper spray, and rioters clashed repeatedly with police personnel.
Right-wing Jewish extremists rioted in the streets of Bat Yam on Wednesday evening, smashing windows and throwing bricks at Arab-owned businesses while chanting “Death to Arabs” and “May your village burn.” There, the near-lynching occurred when right-wing groups attacked an Arab man. Bat Yam Mayor Tzvika Brot distanced his city from the riots, saying “the acts were organized by provocateurs who came from outside the city. This is not our way.”
Similar riots occurred in Tiberias as well.
The police banned anyone in Lod from leaving their homes after 8 p.m., from being present in any public spaces, and from entering the city.
Because of the severe violence seen in the city on Monday and Tuesday, the Border Police established a task force headquarters in Lod on Wednesday, with a force of some 500 Border Police personnel, including tactical border policemen, detectives, investigators and other law enforcement personnel.
Tuesday night saw Arab rioters set fire to dozens of cars in the city; stones and firebombs were thrown, shop windows smashed, and trees uprooted.
Violence restarted on Tuesday afternoon during the funeral of Musa Hasuna, a 25-year-old Arab resident who was allegedly involved in the riots and was shot and killed by a 34-year-old Jewish resident.
Mourners began throwing rocks at Jewish apartments and shouting nationalist slogans, and the riots spiraled into the night, with one man hit in the head by a rock and severely wounded.
Police evacuated some Jewish residents from the mixed Ramat Eshkol neighborhood living in apartment buildings together with other Arab families, fearing for their safety.
Posts on social media by settler activists stated that at least 30 Jewish youths from the Yitzhar region in the Samaria district of the West Bank traveled to Lod on Tuesday night and engaged in clashes with Arab rioters.
Video footage showed Jewish rioters throwing stones at Arab cars in Ramle – adjacent to Lod – causing one vehicle to crash into a roundabout and then a sidewalk, before fleeing the scene.
In one incident which occurred during the course of Tuesday night, Arab rioters broke into the Ramat Eshkol home of a Jewish family that had been evacuated and vandalized every room in the apartment, causing extensive damage.
Settler activists were reported to be making their way to Lod on Wednesday afternoon, although it was unclear if they managed to enter the city before the curfew was imposed.
Later on Tuesday, a protest was staged outside of the District Court of the central region against the ongoing detention of three Jewish residents of Lod who are suspected of shooting at rioters, including Hasuna, amid the riots on Monday night.
Several hundred protesters demonstrated outside the courthouse, while MKs Matan Kahana of Yamina and Simcha Rotman of the Religious Zionist Party attended the hearing.
The protesters cried out chants of “Free the heroes,” “Jewish blood is not a free-forall,” “Self-defense is not a crime” and “Shame,” and demanded
the immediate release of the detainees.
MEIR LAYOSH, an activist in the Lod Jewish community who was in attendance at the protests, insisted that on Monday night Jewish residents exit their apartment buildings to stop the approach of a large mob of rioters.
Layosh said that the rioters presented an immediate threat to the lives of the Jewish residents, and that due to the ongoing absence of the police from the site of the riot, the residents who shot at the rioters did so to defend themselves from immediate, life-threatening danger.
“They have to be released immediately; this is self-defense in every degree. The police made a big mistake by taking 45 minutes to get there,” said Layosh.
In the hearing, however, the court rejected the appeal of the three detainees to be released, and their detention was extended until Thursday.
Earlier on Wednesday, some Jewish residents were in a state of shock at the violent events of the last 48 hours.
“My trust in my neighbors has been broken completely. I saw my neighbor join the riots – until then I believed we could live here together well – they have destroyed everything, everything good,” said Rivi Abramovich, 28.
Yuval Hovav, 28, was the owner of the house that was broken into.
“We have only tried to bring light here, but they have set our cars on fire. I don’t know how I can live next to my neighbor anymore, but I do not intend to leave,” Hovav said. “I’m not afraid, and I do not intend to allow Lod to turn into an Arab city. We are in the heart of the State of Israel.”
Idan Zonshine contributed to this report.
ATTACKS
are a few more in line.”
The IDF shot down a drone after it flew from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory on Wednesday morning; later in the day, the military struck a Hamas cell preparing to launch another drone toward Israel.
The Israeli military continued to hit Hamas targets throughout Wednesday, including its underground military infrastructure and a rocket launcher in the northern Gaza Strip that was calibrated to fire a barrage of 10 missiles at the cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon.
Over 500 targets have been struck in the Strip since Operation Guardians of the Wall began, Zilberman said, adding that dozens of Hamas terrorists have been killed.
The IDF also struck Palestinian Islamic Jihad cells preparing to launch rockets toward the Jewish state.
Palestinian media reported that at least 48 people have been killed in the IDF strikes, including 14 children, and that more than 304 have been wounded. Israel says that some were killed by rockets that misfired and fell inside Gaza.
Speaking after the barrage on Tuesday evening, Netanyahu warned that Hamas would “pay a very heavy price,” and Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that Israel has “the right and the obligation to act, and will continue to do so.”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi, who rarely speaks to the media, said that the IDF “will continue to strike... Hamas will pay a price, heavier than they ever have before.”
This, the most serious flareup between Israel and Hamas since the 2014 war in Gaza, has prompted international concern that the situation could spiral out of control.
But Gantz said that military operations in the Gaza Strip will continue for as long as needed. “Israel is not preparing for a ceasefire... We will not listen to moral preaching against our duty to protect the citizens of Israel.”
The Home Front Command has updated directives to take effect from Wednesday at 6 p.m. until Friday at 2 p.m. In the Gaza border communities, the Western Negev, Sharon, Yarkon and the Shfela region, up to ten people will be allowed in open areas and 100 indoors. It is permitted to work in places where there is an accessible rocket shelter, but educational institutions will be closed.
In the rest of the country, gatherings will be permitted in accordance with the government’s directives. Workplaces and classrooms will operate without restrictions.
Gantz stressed that the IDF will continue striking Gaza until it can bring a “complete and long-term peace .... Only when we achieve complete quiet can we talk about calm,” he said during a tour of rocket-battered Ashkelon.
“In the last few hours, the IDF has carried out a series of significant attacks. We have attacked squads of commanders and significant Hamas infrastructure,” the defense minister said. “We have attacked many hundreds of targets, towers are falling, factories are collapsing, tunnels are being destroyed and commanders are being assassinated. All the means and all the options are on the table.”
Gantz decided on Wednesday afternoon to extend special home front regulations for an additional two weeks in light of the ongoing rocket attacks and plans to expand IDF strikes against the Gaza Strip.
The IDF also began an arrest campaign in the West Bank against Hamas members on Tuesday night, the IDF spokesperson said.
Lahav Harkov contributed to this report. •
CLOSE
Large barrages of over 130 long-range missiles were fired by Hamas at just after 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. toward central and southern Israel, sending thousands of Israeli citizens to their bomb shelters.
While the areas targeted by the terrorist group are not new, the intensity of the salvos left many shaking. The attacks killed five Israeli civilians, two women who lived next door to each other in Rishon Lezion, a father and his 16-year-old daughter in Lod and an elderly man in his 80s who had a heart attack while running for safety.
Speaking to The Jerusalem Post, the former commander of the IDF’s Aerial Defense Division, Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Zvika Haimovich, said the number of the rockets fired were equivalent to the final salvo of Operation Black Belt.
“Every escalation has started with how the group finished the last conflict,” he said. “We shouldn’t be surprised about the high numbers; the next round they will start with this number or even higher.”
While the salvo strategy and missiles used by Hamas and PIJ are not new, Hamas “has improved their skills,” Haimovich said.
“They are not sleeping. Once they finish an escalation, they are trying to build back their forces,” he said, adding that both groups have strong capabilities and have ballistic missiles in their arsenal.
SIX ISRAELI civilians have been killed since the escalation began on Monday, five overnight on Tuesday alone.
Two of those killed were Khalil Awad, 52, and his daughter
Nadin, 16, Arab-Israeli residents of a town near Lod, who were killed after a rocket scored a direct hit on a car in Lod early Wednesday morning. Two women were killed in Rishon Lezion, one by a rocket that struck right outside her home, and her neighbor by a heart attack following the attack. An elderly man in his 80s suffered a heart attack while running for shelter.
While visiting the scene of the rocket attack in Rishon Lezion on Wednesday morning, the neighbors of the victims were still in shock. Some of them were still wearing their pajamas, some still shaking from the traumatic evening they had gone through.
And they had one question: How did the Iron Dome missile defense system miss this?
Speaking to the Post, Abba Cohen, the neighbor of the woman who was killed, said that she had no time to get to her shelter and neither did he.
“I was able to get down the stairs, but not to the shelter,” he said.
Etty and Tzion, her neighbors, explained how all the houses on the block had been destroyed. They had been at a wedding at an event hall in the city when the barrage started, and returned to devastation.
“All of a sudden we heard booms and we were told to come inside,” her husband said. And then they heard that a rocket had fallen on their street.
Explaining that she’s lived on the street for over 30 years, Etty said that “everyone is like family.”
“We rushed home,” she said. “I called everyone, to check that everyone was okay .... We were good friends, she was such a good neighbor.”
IT WAS a scene that played out in several locations in Israel on Wednesday morning and, unfortunately, will likely continue to play out for the next few days, if not weeks.
According to Haimovich, Israel will not stop in its offensive against the terrorist groups, and the onus is on Hamas to decide if it wants to stop the bloodshed or to continue.
“Hamas is the head and heart behind this escalation,” he said, adding that it and PIJ are coordinating since their interests have converged.
He stated that Hamas leaders already began yesterday building a narrative that they are ready for a ceasefire because it’s in their best interest.
“When Israel attacks hour after hour with hundreds of airstrikes against tunnels and their operatives, it’s a very hard blow for them. This is one reason why they want a ceasefire,” he said.
But he stressed that “we need to see what Hamas chooses to do, and then we will see if we are before or after the peak. And not only by their statements but by the practical acts on the ground.”
On Wednesday afternoon Defense Minister Benny Gantz extended the special situation in central and southern Israel for two weeks. That means any community within 80 km. of the Gaza Strip needs to watch the skies for the next two weeks.
Operation Guardian of the Walls is not close to being over.