By Abdelraouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM (AA) – Nearly one-third of American Jews agree with accusations that Israel committed “genocide” in the Gaza Strip, and 60% support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, a new poll has found.
The survey, conducted by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, a private right-wing Israeli think tank, was carried out between May 9 and 11 and included 511 American Jews, according to a statement by the center.
“Approximately one-third of respondents agreed with the accusation that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, while about half disagreed,” it said.
The poll found that 17.4% of respondents strongly agreed and 12.5% agreed with the accusations, whereas 24.8% disagreed and 26.6% strongly disagreed. Additionally, 18.5% neither agreed nor disagreed.
Israel has launched a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since last Oct. 7 following a Hamas attack, killing more than 36,400 Palestinians, the vast majority being women and children, and injuring over 82,600 others.
Nearly eight months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
- Support for Biden's arms pause
The results showed that over 51% of American Jews support President Joe Biden's decision to withhold arms shipments to Israel amid its ground offensive in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
According to the poll, 22.5% of respondents strongly supported Biden's decision, while 29.9% backed it, 11.7% opposed and 10.5% strongly opposed it. Another 25.2% neither supported nor opposed the decision.
Since Israel started its war on the Gaza Strip, the US has provided strong military, intelligence, and diplomatic support to Tel Aviv.
- Campus protests
The survey found that 34.4% of American Jews viewed protests in universities as anti-war and pro-peace, while 28.3% saw them as “purely” anti-Israel. Additionally, 25.3% considered the protests both anti-war and anti-Israel and 11.9% said they were neither.
Since April, universities in several countries, including the US, the UK, France, and Spain, have seen protests against the Israeli war on Gaza amid calls for university administrations to end their cooperation with Israeli institutions.
When asked about their support for Israel after the protests, 33% said their support increased, 43% said it remained the same, and 23.4% said it decreased.
- Two-state solution
As for a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, 60% of respondents considered a two-state solution as “the best way to peace, with varying conditions related to demilitarization and recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.”
Negotiations for peace have been stalled since 2014, largely due to Israel's ongoing settlement activities in the occupied West Bank and its refusal to establish a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The poll found that 11.5% supported an unconditional independent Palestinian state, while 24% backed it with the condition that it recognizes Israel as a “Jewish state.”
Additionally, 16.8% supported a confederation between Israel and a Palestinian state with security arrangements, 4.8% supported the idea of Palestinian “tribal” emirates, and 3.1% supported integrating Palestinians as citizens of Israel.
Only 5.8% opposed the establishment of a Palestinian state altogether, and 8.8% had no opinion.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio