Richard Silverstein relays some new poll data showing that war with Iran doesn't garner much support among Jews. What's interesting, though, is the question, which quite broadly asks "Would you support or oppose the United States taking military action against Iran to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons?" Even under that favorable framing, 54% of Jews reject military action, while only 38% support armed intervention.
Meanwhile, Israelis continue to be quite a bit farther to the left than their professed American backers. Ha'aretz, as one might expect, has come out for negotiations with the Hamas, but so too has Yediot Achronot, Israel's largest daily and a traditionally cautious, centrist publication. This isn't brave leadership: 60% of Israelis support negotiations.
This close attention to Israeli public opinion and the political preferences of American Jewry may seem a bit quixotic to readers, but I'm fairly convinced of its importance. As an American Jew, I've long felt fundamentally alienated by the apparently hawkish majority. What I'm finding is that the hawkish majority is no majority at all, but a loud, bullying minority. That the majority position -- negotiations, peaceful foreign policy, etc -- has been painted as borderline heterodox is upsetting, and it's time more attention was paid to widening the perceptions of Jewish public opinion in order to match the reality. I also this that this moment is particularly ripe for counter-organizing. I got a press release yesterday announcing the formation of Jews Against the Iraq War, and more generally, the specter of Iran and the reality of Iraq are forcing Jews to think harder about what sort of foreign policy they actually favor.
