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Friday, September 18, 2015

Poll indicates that J-Street Jews are JINOs (Jews In Name Only)

The American Jewish Committee just released a poll of US Jews' opinions on many subjects, including the Iran deal.

It finds that a small majority of American Jews support the deal, although those with strong opinions were far more against it:
Recently, the U.S., along with five other countries, reached a deal on Iran’s nuclear program. Do you approve or disapprove of this agreement?
Approve strongly
Approve somewhat
Disapprove somewhat
Disapprove strongly
16.4
34.2
19.8
27.4
But when asked about specifics, practically none felt that the deal would do what J-Street claims it would do:

How confident are you that this agreement will prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons?

11. Will Israel’s security be more threatened or less threatened by the Iran nuclear deal?
More Threatened
Less Threatened
Stay the same
42.8
17.9
37.8
12. How confident are you about the ability of the U.S. and the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) to monitor Iran’s compliance?
Very confident
Somewhat confident
Not so confident
Not at all confident
6.1
37.8
28.2
26.1
- See more at: http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=7oJILSPwFfJSG&b=8479755&ct=14759049#sthash.PgPHBBvQ.dpuf

Here's the interesting part, though.

Support for the deal plummets among Jews in direct proportion to how much they care about Judaism and Israel.

As the AJC press release says:

While 51 percent of total respondents approve of the deal and 47 percent disapprove, there is a significant split within the community on the issue: those who consider being Jewish very important, those who view caring about Israel as a key part of their Jewish identity, and those belonging to the traditional denominations of Judaism are far more likely to oppose the deal than others. It may, in fact, be appropriate, in light of the data, to speak of two diverging Jewish sub-communities.

Among those who consider their being Jewish “very” important, 61 percent disapprove of the agreement (37 percent “strongly”), while 38 percent approve it (12 percent “strongly”). In contrast, 55 percent of those for whom being Jewish is “fairly” important approve the deal (15 percent “strongly”), as do 59 percent of those for whom being Jewish is not important (22 percent “strongly”).

Similarly, a majority—54 percent—of those for whom caring about Israel is an important component of their Jewish identity disapprove of the deal, 19 percent “strongly,” while 66 percent of those for whom caring about Israel is not an important component agree with the deal, 27 percent “strongly.”

Fully 67 percent of Orthodox and Conservative Jews disapprove of the agreement, 45 percent “strongly.” Yet 54 percent of Reform and Reconstructionist Jews approve of it (19 percent “strongly”), as do 69 percent of those who identify as “just Jewish” (24 percent “strongly”).
Unfortunately, there are many more American Jews who are Jewishly ignorant than those who care about Judaism and Israel. 74% of those surveyed identified with being Reform, Reconstructionist or "just Jewish" - a plurality of 37% for the latter category. (While there are certainly some Reform Jews with strong Jewish identities, most Jews who know nothing about their religion but go to synagogue twice a year will self-identify as Reform.)

So this is how you can find absurd results like the responses to these two questions:

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “The goal of the Arabs is not a peaceful two-state agreement with Israel, but rather the destruction of Israel.”
Agree
Disagree
73.1
25.1
Do you favor or oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state?
Favor
Oppose
51.9
46.1
How can this be reconciled? Because so many Jews don't care about Israel.

And those are the Jews who support the Iran deal.

When J-Street claims to be representing the majority of American Jews, they are still lying - as the poll shows, a plurality of American Jews feel that the deal is dangerous and practically none buy into J-Street's argument that the Iran deal is actually good. But the Jews who most strongly support the deal are the Jews who don't give a damn about Israel or Judaism - Jews In Name Only, or JINOs.

And the Jews who don't give a damn about Israel and Judaism - the ignorant Jews or the Jews who are hostile towards Israel  - are the ones who support J-Street's positions.