Thursday, February 09, 2012

54% Israelis - Demographic Threat All BS

Alerted by IMRA (I haven't as yet received the Report), the most recent Peace Index out confirms the dichotomy in polling Israelis and proves what I and others have been claiming for years - that the proper questions are not being asked.

For example, on the issue of whether Israelis want "territories" or a "Jewish state", they found

a large majority (76%) preferring that Israel remain a country with a Jewish majority, with one-quarter preferring that Israel continue to rule all of the Land of Israel west of the Jordan. Asked how they would respond if they knew that "continued Israeli rule over the West Bank would lead to one state for Jews and Arabs in the entire Land of Israel that would not have a Jewish majority,” the majority (63%) answered that in this case they would oppose continued rule in the territories.

That sounds bad, yes?

But consider this

However, the majority (54%) did not agree with the claim that continued rule in the territories will result in a country without a Jewish majority...[they believe] that continued rule in the territories will not prevent Israel from remaining a Jewish and democratic state. In other words, the public indeed prefers that Israel be a Jewish state over continued rule over the whole Land of Israel, but most of it does not believe there is a contradiction between the two objectives.

This is a powerful indictment of pollsters who never ask the obverse of the frame of reference of their pessimistic prophecies and thus, never reveal the true feelings and attitudes of Israelis.



Here it is, again, but in detail:-

This month, we again checked the Jewish public’s preferences regarding Israel being a state with a Jewish majority or continuing control over the West Bank. Again we found a large majority (76%) preferring that Israel remain a state with a Jewish majority, with one-quarter preferring that it
continue to rule all of the Land of Israel west of the Jordan. Asked how they would respond if they “knew that continued Israeli control of the West Bank would lead to one state for Jews and Arabs in the entire Land of Israel that would not have a Jewish majority,” the majority (63%) of Jewish respondents answered that they would oppose continued control of the territories. Here, however, the gaps between those defining themselves as right-wing or left-wing are considerable: about a third of those who define themselves as right-wing, compared to 18% of those calling themselves centrists and only a few percent of those identifying themselves as left, say they would support continued control of the territories even if it led to a joint entity without a Jewish majority.

At the same time, the majority (54%) of the entire Jewish public does not agree with the claim that continued rule in the territories will result in a state that does not have a Jewish majority. Moreover, 54% believe that continued control of the territories will not prevent Israel from remaining a Jewish and democratic state. Here too there are wide gaps based on political self-definition: a large majority of respondents on the right (62%) and a considerable majority of those in the center (57%) do not see a problem here, while a sizable majority (65%) of respondents on the left says continued control will in fact prevent Israel from being both Jewish and democratic. In other words, the public indeed prefers that Israel be a
Jewish state over continued rule over the whole Land of Israel, but most of it does not see a contradiction between these two objectives.

Enjoy.

^

No comments: