Israel Matzav

US Reform Jews more supportive of Netanyahu than Orthodox

Shmuel Rosner looks at the results of the AJC poll of American Jewry and wonders why Reform Jews are more supportive of Prime Minister Netanyahu than are Orthodox Jews.

After the spring poll I've mentioned that "while there's much difference between Orthodox, Consevative, Reform and Just Jews when it comes to Obama (17%, 53%, 64%, 61% approval, respectively), the views on Netanyahu are similar for all denominations (30%, 30%, 31%, 29% disapproval, respectively)". And one can see that in the new poll trends are quite similar - but not the numbers. In fact, while in the spring poll Obama had the approval of the majority of both Reform and Conservative Jews, this time the only denominational group supporting him is the Reform. If one wants to think about Conservative Jews as the equivalent of "moderate" voters - one might conclude that similarly to the trends seen in all general polls, Obama had lost Jewish moderates. Take a look:

	Approve	Disapprove	Not Sure
Orthodox	20%	76	4
Conservative	39	55	5
Reform	60	34	6

Even more interesting though is the fact that according to this poll the Orthodox might be the less supportive of Obama's handling of the relations, but this doesn't mean that they are the most supportive of Netanyah's. In fact, in this survey both Conservative and Reform have better view of Netanyahu's handling of US-Israel relations than Orthodox do. Take a look:

	Approve	Disapprove	Not Sure
Orthodox	57	35	7
Conservative	71	22	6
Reform	62	29	9

These are somewhat puzzling numbers, and I'm still looking for convincing explanation as to why the Orthodox view of Netanyahu's isn't the one I was expecting (essentially, the mirror image of Orthodox view of Obama's). One possible explanation: Some of the Orthodox hardliners would have wanted Netanyahu to be even more combative and less cooperative in handling the relations with Obama. Another possibility: The Orthodox (generally speaking) are more engaged with and have better knowledge of Israel-related issues - thus, they might be more aware to the fact that regarding some battles with the White House Netanyahu also shares some of the blame.

Actually, there's a very simple explanation: Orthodox Jews were far more likely to be upset by the 'settlement freeze.' Those are their brothers, sisters, cousins, nieces and nephews who aren't being allowed to build. That's why there's discontent with Netanyahu in the Orthodox community. That and the fear that he might not be bluffing when he says he will reach an agreement within a year.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:05 AM