{"id":18970,"date":"2014-02-27T11:02:03","date_gmt":"2014-02-27T16:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/strong-support-for-israel-in-u-s-cuts-across-religious-lines\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:44:16","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:44:16","slug":"strong-support-for-israel-in-u-s-cuts-across-religious-lines","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2014\/02\/27\/strong-support-for-israel-in-u-s-cuts-across-religious-lines\/","title":{"rendered":"Strong support for Israel in U.S. cuts across religious lines"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which holds its annual policy conference in Washington, D.C., beginning Sunday, is sometimes referred to as the \u201cJewish lobby.\u201d\u00a0But\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.aipac.org\/about\/mission\">its mission<\/a>\u00a0is as an\u00a0<i>Israel\u00a0<\/i>lobby, and when it comes to public backing for that country in the U.S., evangelical Christians are even more supportive of Israel than American Jews by some measures.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2013\/10\/01\/chapter-5-connection-with-and-attitudes-towards-israel\/#u-s-policy-toward-israel\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f3f3f3\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f3f3f3;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"420\" height=\"375\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/02\/FT_U.S.-Israel.png?resize=420,375 420w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" class=\"wp-image-29209 not-transparent\" alt=\"U.S. support for Israel by religion\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/02\/FT_U.S.-Israel.png\" ><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AIPAC itself has taken note of that fact, making clear that its work is not limited to Jews. Its website refers to activists across all religions and says that \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.aipac.org\/connect\/communities\/yourchurch\">the evangelical Christian community plays an increasingly vital role.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pew Research surveys find that similar shares of Christians (29%) and Jews (31%) <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2013\/10\/01\/chapter-5-connection-with-and-attitudes-towards-israel\/#u-s-policy-toward-israel\">say the U.S. is not supportive enough of Israel<\/a>. Among white evangelical Protestants, nearly half (46%) say that the U.S. is not providing enough support for Israel.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><!--more-->When asked whether God gave Israel to the Jewish people, more Christians (55%) than Jews (40%) say yes (although virtually all of the discrepancy is explained by Jews\u2019 lower levels of belief in God overall).\u00a0And the share of <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2013\/10\/03\/more-white-evangelicals-than-american-jews-say-god-gave-israel-to-the-jewish-people\/\">white evangelicals saying that God gave Israel to the Jews<\/a> (82%) is on par with the percentage of Orthodox Jews who believe this (84%).<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This year\u2019s conference comes at a sensitive time for AIPAC, which\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/02\/04\/world\/middleeast\/potent-pro-israel-group-finds-its-momentum-blunted.html\">has been at odds with the White House<\/a>\u00a0over a Senate bill that would impose new sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program.\u00a0When we asked Americans in 2012 what the U.S. should do <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2012\/02\/15\/public-takes-strong-stance-against-irans-nuclear-program\/\">if Israel attacks Iran to stop Iran\u2019s nuclear program<\/a>, 64% of white evangelicals said \u201csupport Israel,\u201d while just 39% of the general public agreed.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2013\/03\/19\/public-remains-supportive-of-israel-wary-of-iran\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"eeeeec\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #eeeeec;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"338\" height=\"581\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/02\/FT_Evangelicals_Israel.png?resize=338,581 338w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" class=\"wp-image-29216 not-transparent\" alt=\"Support for Israel among U.S. evangelicals is high.\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2014\/02\/FT_Evangelicals_Israel.png\" ><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is trying to broker a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians amid a <a href=\"http:\/\/bigstory.ap.org\/article\/israels-netanyahu-calls-boycotters-anti-semites\">Palestinian-led, international movement<\/a> of \u201cboycott, divestment and sanctions\u201d directed against Israel as a response to the Jewish presence in the West Bank.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When it comes to the long-standing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, asked whether they sympathize with either side, 72% of white evangelicals sided with Israel in the dispute while 4% picked the Palestinians, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2013\/03\/19\/public-remains-supportive-of-israel-wary-of-iran\/\">March 2013 survey<\/a>. Among U.S. adults overall, 49% sympathized more with Israel and 12% with the Palestinians. Half (50%) of white evangelicals said there is no way for Israel and an independent Palestinian state to coexist peacefully, a view held by <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2013\/10\/01\/chapter-5-connection-with-and-attitudes-towards-israel\/#prospects-for-two-state-solution\">just a third (33%) of U.S. Jews<\/a> and 41% of the general public.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The American Israel Public Affairs Council meets in Washington starting Sunday to lobby on issues affecting that country, and it can look to American Christians as a source of support for Israel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[183,26,24],"bylines":[854],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[517],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-18970","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-evangelicalism","category-international-affairs","category-religion","bylines-michael-lipka","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-religion"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":397,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2014\/02\/27\/strong-support-for-israel-in-u-s-cuts-across-religious-lines\/","art_direction":false,"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Strong support for Israel in U.S. cuts across religious lines","description":"Christians \u2013 and especially evangelicals \u2013 are at least as supportive of Israel as American Jews, according to Pew Research Center polling.","og_title":"Strong support for Israel in U.S. cuts across religious lines","og_description":"The American Israel Public Affairs Council meets in Washington starting Sunday to lobby on issues affecting that country, and it can look to American Christians as a source of support for Israel.","schema_type":"Article","noindex":false,"canonical_url":"","primary_terms":[],"custom_schema":[],"og_image":0,"indexnow_submitted_at":null,"gsc_index_status":null},"prepublish_checks":{},"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"relatedPostsOrdered":[],"bylinesOrdered":[{"key":"8501f648822e97159d40e0da1c94a68e","termId":854}],"acknowledgementsOrdered":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read\/18970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/short-read"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18970"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read\/18970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106951,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read\/18970\/revisions\/106951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18970"},{"taxonomy":"bylines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bylines?post=18970"},{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=18970"},{"taxonomy":"datasets","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/datasets?post=18970"},{"taxonomy":"_post_visibility","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_post_visibility?post=18970"},{"taxonomy":"formats","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/formats?post=18970"},{"taxonomy":"_fund_pool","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_fund_pool?post=18970"},{"taxonomy":"languages","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/languages?post=18970"},{"taxonomy":"regions-countries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions-countries?post=18970"},{"taxonomy":"research-teams","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-teams?post=18970"},{"taxonomy":"workflow-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/workflow-status?post=18970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}