The Jewish people have been praying for 2,000 years to return to the Jewish homeland, but a new survey shows that most Americans, even Republicans who support Israel, would prefer a democratic Israel. And while Democrats remove their political support for Israel, they are far more fearful of growing antisemitism.
A new study by the Brookings Institution asked a double-layered question: is a two-state solution still possible and if not, how should the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea be defined?
A second question investigated what constitutes antisemitism. Included in this was whether anti-Zionism constitutes anti-Semitism.
The survey began by asking, “If a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians were not possible, meaning the West Bank and Gaza had to be under Israeli control indefinitely, which of the following would be closer to your view?”
Two options were given, asking whether respondents favored Israel’s Jewishness over its democracy or vice versa.
Republicans favored Israel’s Jewishness by 27% as compared to 12% of Democrats. 64% of Republicans favored Israel’s democracy, as compared to 80% of Democrats.
The negative aspect of this preference for a non-Jewish Israel was described by the former Israeli politician Dr. Einat Wilf.
“To be clear, there is no world, except in the dark fantasies of disconnected ‘do-gooders’ where Israel is no longer a Jewish state and somehow becomes the world’s first successful Arab democracy which also magically secures Jewish lives,” Dr. Wilf tweeted. “A bloody civil war is what will be. Pass.”
The survey revealed that Americans seem to be mostly unfamiliar with Zionism. 14% of Republicans had a positive opinion of Zionism as compared to 7% of Democrats. 21% of Republicans were ambivalent about Zionism, having neither a positive nor a negative opinion of Zionism, as compared to 16% of Democrats who felt this way. 8% of Republicans had a negative opinion of Zionism as compared to 13% of Democrats.
One-third (32%) of Republicans were unfamiliar with Zionism, and an additional 25% did not know how they felt about Zionism. Among Democrats, 36% were unfamiliar, and 28% did not know how they felt about it.
Almost half of the respondents (49%) said they have neither a positive nor a negative impression of Zionism, including 50% of Republicans and 44% of Democrats. Overall, the respondents also saw Zionism more negatively (30%) than positively (21%), with 36% of Democrats saying they held a negative impression of Zionism compared to 20% who said it was positive. Among Republicans, 32% said they had a positive impression compared to 18% who had a negative impression.
Zionism emerged in the 19th century as support for the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine. Following the establishment of Israel, Zionism became an ideology that supports “the development and protection of the State of Israel”.
Third, a plurality of respondents, 37%, said antisemitism is increasing, compared to five years ago, while 32% said they didn’t know.
Almost half of the respondents (49%) said they have neither a positive nor a negative impression of Zionism, including 50% of Republicans and 44% of Democrats. Overall, the respondents also saw Zionism more negatively (30%) than positively (21%), with 36% of Democrats saying they held a negative impression of Zionism compared to 20% who said it was positive. Among Republicans, 32% said they had a positive impression compared to 18% who had a negative impression.
All respondents felt that antisemitism is increasing. One-third (33%) of Republicans said antisemitism is increasing compared to five years ago, while 32% said they didn’t know, and 47% of Democrats felt this was the case. 7% of Republicans said it has decreased, while only 3% of Democrats felt this was the case. 29% of Republicans said the level of antisemitism was unchanged, while 26% of Democrats felt this was the case.
About a third of Americans said they didn’t know if attitudes against Jews (31%) and attitudes against Judaism (36%) constituted antisemitism, while a majority and near-majority said attitudes against Jews (58%) and attitudes against Judaism (47%) constituted antisemitism.
The poll was conducted from June 21-27 among 1,439 respondents from Ipsos’s probabilistic KnowledgePanel. The margin of error is 2.9%. The poll was run by Shibley Telhami, a professor in the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland and a nonresident senior fellow of the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. Telhami was born into an Arab family in Israel but has lived his entire adult life in the United States.
