Hanan Cohen sends along a link to the American Jewish Committee’s 2003 Annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion. The sample of 1,000 self-identified Jews, a representative cross-section of Americans, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 points.

76% of us think caring about Israel is a very important part of being a Jew. Only 5% are more positive this year than last about the chance for peace. 81% of us think “”The goal of the Arabs is not the return of occupied territories but rather the destruction of Israel,” but 54% support the creation of a Palestinian state. 69% support dismantling at least some of the West Bank settlements. 60% support the current handling of relations with the Palestinian Authority. 63% think American Jews ought to support Israel even when we disagree with it. 76% believe 9/11 does not reflect the true teachings of Islam.

Only 16% of us identify ourselves as Republican. 51% are Democrats and 31% are independents. 40% of us are some type of liberal, skewing toward the “slightly liberal.” 27% are conservatives. We voted for Gore over Bush 66 to 24. Clark, Dean and Kerry beat Bush 2:1. Lieberman beats Bush 71:24. We’re more mixed about the Iraqi War: 54% disapprove of it, and 54% disapprove of the way Bush has handled the campaign against terrorism.

We definitely do not want tax payer funds going to faith-based programs (73%) and don’t want government aid to religious schools (73%), but we do want “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance (66%).

97% of us think ati-Semitism in the US is a problem, and 37% think it’s a very serious problem. (For perceived anti-Semitism in Europem the figures are 96% and 55%.) 67% of us expect global anti-Semitism to increase.

My own views frequently are outside what the survey says is the Jewish mainstream, so please spare me your rants. Thank you.

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