Surprising results found in new AJC poll-78% goal of the Arabs is the destruction of Israel.

Nearly 78 percent of Jewish respondents in a new poll commissioned by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) agreed with the statement, "The goal of the Arabs is not the return of occupied territories but rather the destruction of Israel."

However, 56% said they favor the establishment of a Palestinian state, while 36% said they supported a compromise in Jerusalem in the framework of a permanent peace agreement with the Palestinians.

The survey, conducted among 1,000 self-identifying Jewish respondents, also found that 70% oppose the war in Iraq, compared with only 28% who approve.

The option of the United States taking military action against Iran to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons was virtually tied (49% in favor, 46% against).

Asked how close they were to Israel, 36% said they were very close while 41% said they were fairly close. However, 79% said they agreed with the following statement, "Caring about Israel is a very important part of my being a Jew."

Other data showed that 49% of respondents said that they had never been to Israel due to high travel costs, 20% due to personal safety concerns, and 18% due to lack of interest.

Also, 54% said their political affiliation was Democrat, 29% Independent and 16% Republican.

When it comes to Jewish identity, 64% said that participating in synagogue services was very important or fairly important to them. Only 5% said celebrating Jewish holidays was not important to them, while 2% said remembrance of the Holocaust was not important to them.

According to the poll, 10% labeled themselves as orthodox, 32% conservative, 29% as reform and 26% as just Jewish. Asked which threat was a greater to Jewish life in the United States, 62% said anti-Semitism while 33% said intermarriage.

Same poll, different story, from the liberal press. They exclude the “destroy Israel” question, which I’d think would be of interest in an Israeli paper, and replace it with the Iraq war.

Poll: Most U.S. Jews oppose Iraq war, have never visited Israel
By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent
NEW YORK - Approximately 70 percent of Jews in the United States oppose the war in Iraq, compared to 28 percent who support the war, according to an American Jewish Committee poll, which also showed that nearly 60 percent have never visited Israel.
The poll indicates that 60 percent of U.S. Jews do not agree with the manner in which the U.S. government is conducting the war on terror.
The poll, to be published Wednesday, includes a special section on questions examining U.S. Jews' attitudes on relations with Israel. According to the poll, 59 percent of Jews in the U.S. have never visited Israel; 20 percent of those polled have visited Israel once, and another 20 percent said they had visited Israel more than once.
Of those who have never visited Israel, 49 percent cited the cost of the flight as the main reason, while 20 percent said security concerns were the reason, and 18 percent said they had never visited Israel due to "lack of interest."
Some 79 percent of those polled said that concern for Israel is a main part of their lives as Jews, while 19 percent disagreed with this statement.
According to the poll, 36 percent of American Jews consider themselves very close to Israel, while 41 percent regarded themselves as somewhat close to Israel; 5 percent of respondents said they feel very distant from Israel.
When asked whether they are more optimistic regarding chances of peace between Israel and the Palestinians compared to last year, 21 percent said they are more optimistic, while 19 percent said they were less optimistic; 59 percent of those polled said their opinion had not changed in the past year.
Some 32 percent of those polled said they were Conservative Jews, 29 percent regarded themselves as Reform, 10 percent as Orthodox and 2 percent as Reconstructionist.
Only 16 percent of those polled said they were Republicans, while 54 percent said they were Democrats; 29 percent said they were Independents.

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