Among Jews with a religious affiliation, views on Israel\u2019s recent military actions are far from uniform or uncritical. Only about half say Israel\u2019s ongoing military operations in Gaza are justified.<\/p>\n
\t About one-quarter believe Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, an accusation that\u2019s been leveled by some human rights organizations and vehemently denied by Israel and the US government.<\/p>\n But they are more supportive of Israel\u2019s actions than secular American Jews.<\/p>\n About four in 10 religiously unaffiliated Jews say Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians, and only about two in 10 see Israel\u2019s current operations in Gaza as justified.<\/p>\n The vast majority, 74 percent, say they are \u201cnot too\u201d or \u201cnot at all\u201d emotionally attached to Israel, a sharp contrast from other Jewish adults.<\/p>\n Conflicting views about Israel\u2019s military actions<\/p>\n Jews who regularly attend religious services are more likely than those who never attend to feel a connection to Israel and see its military actions in Gaza as justified, the survey found.<\/p>\n About three in 10 Jews never attend religious services, although that rises to about two-thirds among religiously unaffiliated Jews. About half of Jewish adults attend a few times a year or less often. About two in 10 attend at least once a month, including about one in 10 who attend weekly.<\/p>\n According to the survey, Jews mostly identify as Democrats; about three in 10 identify as Republicans. Religiously unaffiliated Jews are slightly more likely than Jewish adults overall to identify as Democrats, and less likely to call themselves Republicans.<\/p>\n \t Jewish adults who identify as religiously Jewish are much likelier than nonreligious Jews to identify as Zionists.<\/p>\n About three in 10 religiously Jewish adults say \u201cZionist\u201d describes them \u201cextremely\u201d or \u201cvery\u201d well, compared to six percent of religiously unaffiliated Jews.<\/p>\n Just under half of secular Jews, 45%, say \u201cZionist\u201d describes them \u201dnot very well\u201d or \u201cnot well at all.\u201d<\/p>\n Many still see Israel as central to their Jewish identity<\/p>\n Supporting Israel is still fundamental to many Jewish adults\u2019 identity, but its importance compared to other aspects of being Jewish varies.<\/p>\n About half of religiously affiliated Jewish adults say supporting Israel is \u201cextremely\u201d or \u201cvery\u201d important to their Jewish identity, compared to about one in 10 religiously unaffiliated Jewish adults.<\/p>\n \t Some of the divide is generational. Younger Jews \u2014 regardless of their Jewish affiliation \u2014 are less likely to see Israel as important to their Jewish identity.<\/p>\n But there are commonalities, too. Majorities of younger and older Jewish adults, for instance, say that remembering the Holocaust is important to their Jewish identity.<\/p>\n Painful conflicts over Israel are common<\/p>\n The survey finds that rifts are springing up within families and communities over Israel, even among religiously unaffiliated Jews.<\/p>\n Most Jewish adults, 55%, say they\u2019ve felt offended by another person\u2019s comments about Israel since the October 7 attack, while about four in 10 say they\u2019ve disagreed with family members about something related to Israel.<\/p>\n About three in 10 say they\u2019ve stopped talking to someone because of something they said about Israel.<\/p>\n \t The AP-NORC poll of 3,040 adults was conducted June 11-17 using a sample drawn from NORC\u2019s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the US population. The poll included interviews with 1,022 Jewish adults. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points and the margin of sampling error for Jewish adults is plus or minus 5.0 percentage points.<\/p>\n Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident \u2013 ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded \u2013 I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.<\/p>\n There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.<\/p>\n As a Times of Israel reporter, I\u2019m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit\u2019s. But my colleagues and I can’t do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.<\/p>\n \u2014 Stav Levaton, military reporter<\/p>\n \t\t\t
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\n\t\tPalestinians at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, in the Gaza Strip, May 24, 2026 (Khalil Kahlout\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/33XQ6JJ-highres-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tBurnt cars are left behind at the site of the massacre three days earlier by Palestinian terrorists on the Nova desert music festival near Kibbutz Re\u2019im in the Negev desert in southern Israel, on October 10, 2023. (Jack Guez\/AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP26151740384482-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tParade participants wave flags at spectators during the Israel Day Parade, May 31, 2026, in New York. (AP\/Emil T. Lippe)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AFP__20240531__34UH9NZ__v1__HighRes__UsPalestinianIsraelConflictDemo-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tIllustrative: Anti-Israel demonstrators protest outside the Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, New York on May 31, 2024. (Leonardo Munoz\/AFP)<\/p>\n
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