Majority Of American Jews Think U.S. Should Strike Iran: Poll

One day ahead of talks in Geneva between Iran and six major powers - the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany - on Tehran's controversial nuclear program, a national poll finds that 56 percent of American Jews support a U.S. military strike against Iran.

The annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion, commissioned by the American Jewish Committee, revealed a 14 percent rise in the number of U.S. Jews in support of such a military strike, whose aim would be to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. 36 percent of those polled - self-described adult Jews ? were against such an attack.

Asked whether Israel should attack Iran, 66 percent of those polled said they would support such a move.

At this time, 49 percent of those polled said that they support the policy of U.S. President Barack Obama toward Iran. Obama has expressed desire to resolve the standoff with Iran with diplomatic measures, recently adding that should the diplomacy fail, steps would have to be taken. 35% of those polled said they oppose Obama's policy.
...

Read the whole story: Haaretz.

Comments

[EdwardMRoche]

It is easy to recommend war when you are an armchair strategist and don't have to fight it.

Negotiations even if frustrating are better than the loss of innocent lives.

[Hillrick]

"I can hear the cries of children and the other songs of war..."
Standing on the moon.

I whole heartedly agree with you. I also wonder that the organization polled Jewish Americans who they are in contact with. I cannot believe if you asked all Jewish people here that the would give this response.

[xena]

Since Jews make up between 1% - 2% of the U.S. population I don't think their opinion really counts. If they're all happy-clappy about death and destruction let them pack up their children and have at it.

[jeanrenoir]

Precisely. Despite their huge economic success, and consequent political power in America, Jews are actually an insignificant percentage of American voters. Neocon Jews have done an excellent job (before Obama) of controlling American foreign policy for Likud Israel ever since they threw in with Reagan and the Christian Right in 1980, joining them at the hip with Israel, by bankrolling the media blitz of the Conservative Movement, and by co-opting white Moral Majority types to do the actual voting for them. Rush's ditto-machine, straight from Likud headquarters, would always told them how to vote. The success of the neocons and Likud in controlling American foreign policy for Israel from 1980 to 2008 (with the partial exception of Bush I) made them insanely arrogant. So they hatched the stupid and disastrous war in Iraq to "protect" Israel and "re-make" the Middle East. This led, of course, to a gigantic strengthening of both of Israel's worst, potentially nuclear, enemies: Iran and Bin Laden. Learning little from this fiasco, the neocons and Likud are still so blinded by their arrogance that they think Israel could actually get away with bombing Iran in America. But no matter how Fox and Rush spun it, even someone as dumb as Joe the Plumber would finally figure out that his post-bombing $15 gas at the pump, as well as the implosion of America's economy into total Depression, had come to him straight from Israel. The backlash against Israel would be unbelievable.

[bubbepenny]

are you SURE this is not a slanted poll? one needs to be very careful with statistics. as an american jew i am not in favor of a war with iran. i AM in favor of diplomatic contact and sanctions. i dont think ANYONE wants iran to have nuclear weapons.

[evil goat]

The American Jewish Committee consists almost entirely of older and far more orthodox jews. So they took an extremely small section of the jewish population then bullsh *t it out to make a blanket statement.

[drsimon]

then let them send their sons, and only their sons, to do the fighting

[keysbreezin]

Here, here! Well said.

[NoSillyName]

Not surprising.

[mamacat]

Very scary. Israel has a very strong influence on American views and actions in the world.

[max08]

Striking Iran will provoke devastation here with astronomical oil prices and the subsequent food shortages and higher prices. It could produce WWIII.

Why do American Jews wish that on their countrymen?

[SpoonieLuv]

I can't believe that someone could have as much hate in their hearts these people seem to have for Muslims.

[MosheDayanHero]

Gallup Poll completed this week --
80% of Americans say they hold an unfavorable opinion of Iran -- more than say the same about any other country.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/114586/majority-americans-support-direct-diplomacy-iran.aspx

[thrdr]

You're really reading a big slant into that poll. I don't think that it indicates a majority of Americans think the U.S. should attack Iran; in fact, quite the opposite.

[CigarGod]

You think a poll - after a major pr campaign and years/decades of demonization of Iran - actually reflects thoughtfulness of people and somehow validates the Israeli position?

[Richter]

Having a negative opinion of the Iranian government -- which I most definitely do -- isn't synonymous with thinking the country of Iran should be bombed -- which I most definitely do NOT.

[Sing Out and Slap Iron]

And you're a modicum of impartiality!

[yemaya]

Because certain muslims had so much hate for us that they blew up a few buildings in New York, remember that? Yeah, maybe that's it...

[CaptainHowdy2]

Blew up? Interesting choice of words.

Most of those people were Saudis BTW.

[Richter]

So you think the hateful actions of "certain Muslims" justify hating ALL 1.3 billion Muslims on the planet?

[uansari1]

What does IRAN have to do with 9/11?!? That is one of the few Muslim countries where there was immediate sympathy and an outpouring of support for the loss of life in that attack! They even held candlelight vigils around the country in Iran.

[CarlyHope]

You seem to have missed the part where Iranians oppressed the Jews who live in their country(who've been there for centuries), and made tons of inflamimatory statements about killing Jews, Jews being evil and the holocaust being fake.

I don't believe we should bomb Iran, but if fellow American Jews do, I don't think you can equate that with hating muslims

[NedPointsman]

The official level of privilege jews in iran receive is almost unparalleled, hence why, despite israeli bribes, so few iranian jews are willing to leave.

I'd rather be a jew in iran than a muslim in israel.

[Unsui]

I have trouble believing this poll. Who did it, StrategicVisions?

[baffy]

Israel duped Bush into attacking Iraq and we all know how that has turned out. Fortunately Obama gets it. The US will not be fooled again by Israel. Let Israel destroy its own 200 nuclear warheads before they start pointing fingers at everyone else.

[LyssaBarnes]

Better yet, let Israel take care of Iran itself. I think we've sold them enough arms and send enough money to take handle matters.

[CaptainHowdy2]

Yep.

[digdeeper]

The "Intelligence" from Israel enabled Bush to lie about the evidence to justify invading Iraq. Don't forget that at the time Israel saw Iraq as a threat and constantly used propaganda to support their views
Now Israel is at it again, this time with Iran.. The tail wagging the dog eh?
If just for once we try to get the picture from the Iranian point of view we might see that Israel's hawkish postures and frequent threats towards them might just leave them feeling threatened and therefore looking for ways of defending themselves. Remember, unlike Israel, Iran has never invaded another country.
They want every state around them to be lame ducks with no defence systems so that they can dictate terms and of course delay, delay, delay peace initiatives in order to steal more land from the Palestinians. The consequence of this is more and more anger directed at them.
American jews should join with the rest of the world jewry to condemn Israel's hawkish policies. As times goes on, I have noticed a rise in anti-semetism around the world. Surely that is a good enough reason for disquiet amongst jews in America. How can they subscribe to the view that yet another war would solve the situation.

[gakabani]

thank you for your well written post. you hot yourself a fan!!!

[GZLives]

Great post ... good material for a novel however far from true so lets keep it honest

srael urged US to attack Iran - not Iraq
By Gareth Porter

WASHINGTON - Israeli officials warned the George W Bush administration that an invasion of Iraq would be destabilizing to the region and urged the United States instead to target Iran as the primary enemy, according to former Bush administration official Lawrence Wilkerson.

Wilkerson, then a member of the US State Department's policy planning staff and later chief of staff for secretary of state Colin Powell, recalled in an interview that the Israelis reacted immediately to indications that the Bush administration was thinking of war against Iraq. After the Israeli government picked up the first signs of that intention, said Wilkerson, "The Israelis were telling us Iraq is not the enemy - Iran is the enemy."

Wilkerson describes the Israeli message to the Bush administration in early 2002 as being, "If you are going to destabilize the balance of power, do it against the main enemy."

The warning against an invasion of Iraq was "pervasive" in Israeli communications with the US administration, Wilkerson recalled. It was conveyed to the administration by a wide range of Israeli sources, including political figures, intelligence, and private citizens.

Wilkerson noted that the main point of their communications was not that the US should immediately attack Iran, but that "it should not be distracted by Iraq and Saddam Hussein" from a focus on the threat from Iran

[krkrbtsaz]

Thanks for your revisionist account of things-too bad its not too accurate. Long before the Iraq war, Iran was one of the largest, if not the largest state sponsor of terrorism. It is and has been the main supporter of Hezbollah. It is also a supporter of Hamas. It is not as if both of these groups simply want an independent Palestinian state. They hands down are against any reconciliation with Israel and in fact, deny that Israel even has the right to exist. And now, we have the Iranian regime saying the same things. Ahmadinejad goes even further and numerous times has denied that the Holocaust ever existed.

Your comments on the opinions of what the world's Jews think are laughable. Most around the world hate Ahmadinejad for the reasons listed above.

[Richter]

And your evidence that "Israel duped Bush into attacking Iraq" is... what, exactly? Please note -- bigotry is not generally considered proof.

[CarlyHope]

There is just NO evidence of that.

[Harpseal60]

Getting in a nuke fight with any country means both sides lose. There is no winners when nukes are involved. Diplomacy is the best answer for now.

[Yank in France]

I agree that Iran is a huge threat to regional security and still has lots of blood in its hands via the support of terrorist acts, not just in the ME, but in Europe and South America. Remember, Argentina has just charged their former president, Mr Menem, with blocking investigation of the bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires which killed dozens of innocents civilians!
BUT, does this mean it makes sense for Americans (yeah, remember them?) or European to support a prolonged military intervention against Iran to stop them from developing nukes? My answer up to recently was YES, but Israel's threat in the last Lebenon was and in following face-offs with the Syrians, I noticed that they threatened to use "strategic" weapons (meaning nukes!) EARLY in any confrontation, as opposed to a means of last resort!
Jewish Americans want war with Iran, just as Israel wanted a US war "against" IRAQ a few years ago, but if we attack Iran or allow Israel free access to airspace we control in Iraq and Saudi Arabia (remember the AWACs?), we will be viewed, for the first time ever, as a direct participant in hostilities...which could last for quite a long time period...
Can anyone gauge the potential loss in oil revenue if Iran blocks the Straits of Hormuz, as they have threatened to do?????

[CaptainHowdy2]

The only country that I see attacking it's neighbors and destabilizing the region is Israel. They are the real threat in the region.

[Wisdo]

Thats a sad poll.

That Jewish people - traditionally pacifists - are now caught up in the rights warmongering to the extent that they believe war will bring peace. And that PRE-EMPTIVE war is just.

[PWM]

They must be listening to Fox.

[CarlyHope]

OR they're listening to Ahmadinejad and are freaked.

[joebaggadonuts]

Like with any other piece of information, check the source. It's not unbiased. Haaretz is an Israeli newspaper, apparently with an axe to grind.

[ChristopherAtom]

There in lies the dilemma: who can you believe if everyone has an agenda. And if thats the case how much of the info I've retained over the years is tainted by that false info. How can any of us trust one another? The answer is, we can't. Corruption is the way the game is played and we are nothing but pawns for those who squirm there way into the drivers seat.

The human race, all of it, black, white, red, brown, yellow, blue, male, female, gay, bi, straight, long, tall, short, fat, young and old, all of us are of a beautiful majestic God-like creatures, yet we treat each other like dogs. Tragic beyond words.

[Yank in France]

I would not exactly say the Jewish people have historically been pacifists. I am not sure we can categorize them in one camp or another, although many Jews have participated in progressive causes, at least in the 20th century. I am not at all sure that could be said in past centuries.

[MosheDayanHero]

Yank in Frogland
Huh?!!
All the communist socialist, progressive and anarchist movements were practically filled with Jews by the late 19th Century.Primarily because of oppression against them.
Ever heard of Karl Marx? Eduard Bernstein practically invented evolutionary socialism in Germany,
Not to mention Trotsky,Fanya Baron,. Bund, Emma Goldman etc

[yankees]

No war won't bring peace but it might stop the elimination of Israel and the murder of millions of Jews.
There is a slogan used, Never Again". Are the Jews going to stand by and listen to men like Hitler and watch in horror as they are eliminated? Can they count on the USA and the Obama Administration or the joke of a UN?
It's easy for you to sit back and play on the internet and not have to really deal with the issue. Enjoy and I truly hope terrorism never hits you or your family like it did some of us in NYC.

[Yank in France]

You claim it is easy to "sit back" and take the survival of the Israeli people for granted, but what about you??
After all, let's just make a wild assumption, i.e. that Jews are no different from anybody us...
If so, let's take a look at other people who have suffered horribly, like the Puritans in America who were persecuted in England. After being persecuted, how did they react to the fellow colonists, native peoples or slaves?
We all know (hopefully) that they went on a prolonged rampage persecuting all those who did not bend to THEIR WAYS. Look at the Calvinists in Switzerland or the Lutherans in Germany, all the horrrors they perpetrated on their people!
The Chinese Hans were colonized by Western powers for centuries, but how did they react to Chinese minority peoples once the Communists led them to power in 1949?
If you know the answer to these questions, you should not be so cockily self-righteous in your "defense" of the Jewish people, especially since an increasingly HUGE number of Jews reject such "support". Don't get me wrong: I want Israelis to live in peace side by side with their Arab neighbors and do NOT support Hamas or any of the other whacko groups, but Netanyahu and the majority of the leaders of the American Jewish community today represent MASSIVE OBSTACLES TO PEACE for Israelis and, thus, for their security.

[wm1066]

"traditionall pacifist"?? Thats only in America. The Jews that took back Palestine in 1948 were not pacifists. In fact after the Diaspora 2 thousand years ago, people in other countries under Roman rule wanted to get Jewish fighters to help in their insurrections. Tibetans and the Thai people are pacifists. The Jews aren't, they can't afford to be.

[Yank in France]

"Took back Palestine"?? Not only are you not pacifist, but your very notion of "taking back" a country that was supposed stolen from your people 2,000 years ago, is FASCISTIC!!

[gandolf101]

the Sunni arabs have no problem with israel giving a Iran (Shiites)
a good beating.

If iran gets the bomb , then Eygpt and or Saudi Arabia will get the bomb
as they fear iran more then Israel . Then again Israel attacked a Syrian Nuclear power plant
even had soldiers on the ground in Syria and Syria did not respond .

I also dont think Irans military is any match for Israel, not at all.

[Garioch]

As Israel have nuclear weapons then very few are a match for their military but if they carry on the way they are going lashing out as they feel like it, ignoring international law and attacking other nations at will then the time will come when they pick on someone (like Iran) who have a sponsor (like China) who get tired enough of their antics to hit back.
Israel is playing a short term game plan in a long term situation.

[WilliamL]

yup

[PWM]

Good point. China has the economic clout to back Iran and force the US to back off.

[Hirnlego]

More proof that people are GULLIBLE.