2003 Annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion


Introduction

The data reported here are from the American Jewish Committee's 2003 Annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion. Among the topics covered are the war against terrorism and Iraq; the Israel-Arab conflict; the attachment of American Jews to Israel; transatlantic relations; political and social issues in the United States; Jewish perceptions of anti-Semitism; and Jewish identity concerns. Some of the questions appearing in the survey are new, others are drawn from previous AJC surveys conducted annually since 1997.

The 2003 survey was conducted for AJC by Market Facts, a leading survey-research organization. Respondents were interviewed by telephone between November 25 and December 11. The sample consisted of 1,000 self-identifying Jewish respondents selected from the Market Facts consumer mail panel. The respondents are demographically representative of the U.S. adult Jewish population on a variety of measures. The margin of error for the sample as a whole is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

2003 survey results:

War On Terrorism and Iraq

1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way President George W. Bush is handling the U.S. campaign against terrorism?

2. Do you approve or disapprove of the war with Iraq?

  3. Do you think the threat of terrorism against the United States has increased, decreased, or stayed about the same as a result of the war with Iraq?

ISRAEL

4. How close do you feel to Israel?

5. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? "Caring about Israel is a very important part of my being a Jew."

6. Looking ahead 3 to 5 years, do you see Jews in Israel and in the United States becoming closer, drifting apart, or neither?

7. How would you characterize relations between Israel and the United States today? Are they very positive, somewhat positive, somewhat negative, or very negative?

8. As compared with one year ago, are you now more optimistic about the chance for a lasting peace between Israel and the Arabs, less optimistic, or do you think the chance for a lasting peace is about the same as it was one year ago?

9. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? "The goal of the Arabs is not the return of occupied territories but rather the destruction of Israel."

10. Do you support or oppose the Israeli government's current handling of relations with the Palestinian Authority?

11. In the current situation, do you favor or oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state?

12. In the framework of a permanent peace with the Palestinians, should Israel be willing to compromise on the status of Jerusalem as a united city under Israeli jurisdiction?

13. As part of a permanent settlement with the Palestinians, should Israel be willing to dismantle all, some, or none of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank?

14. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? "Regardless of their individual views on the peace negotiations with the Arabs, American Jews should support the policies of the duly elected government of Israel."

World Affairs and Transatlantic Relations

15. How desirable is it that the United States exerts strong leadership in world affairs? Is it very desirable, somewhat desirable, somewhat undesirable, or very undesirable?

16. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? "When dealing with common problems, the United States and Europe should be more willing to make decisions jointly, even if this means that the United States, as well as Europe, will sometimes have to go along with a policy that is not its first choice."

17. In general, in responding to international crises, do you think the United States should or should not act alone, if it does not have the support of its allies?

18. Do you believe that the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon reflect the true teachings of Islam?

19. I would like you to rate your feelings toward some countries, institutions and people, with one hundred meaning a very warm, favorable feeling, zero meaning a very cold, unfavorable feeling, and fifty meaning not particularly warm or cold. You can use any number from zero to one hundred. How would you rate your feelings toward [ ].

20. I would like you to rate how various foreign governments feel toward Israel, with one hundred meaning a very warm, favorable feeling, zero meaning a very cold, unfavorable feeling, and fifty meaning not particularly warm or cold. You can use any number from zero to one hundred. How would you rate the government of [ ] in terms of feelings toward Israel?

Presidential Election and National Affairs

21. In politics, as of today, do you consider yourself a Republican, a Democrat, or an Independent?

22. I'm going to read you a list of political views that people might hold. They are arranged from extremely liberal to extremely conservative. Where would you place yourself on this scale?

23. In the 2000 presidential election, did you vote for Al Gore, the Democrat, or for George W. Bush, the Republican?

24. Suppose the next general election for president were being held today and you had to choose between George W. Bush, the Republican, and [ ], the Democrat - - for whom would you vote?

25. Do you think the number of immigrants from foreign countries who are permitted to come to the United States to live should be increased a lot, increased a little, left the same as it is now, decreased a little, or decreased a lot?

26. Do you think that the government should or should not provide taxpayer funds for social service programs run by religious institutions, such as churches or synagogues?

27. Do you favor or oppose government aid to parochial or other religious schools?

28. In your opinion, how important is it that the United States achieve energy independence? Is it very important, somewhat important, or not important at all?

29. A federal appeals court has ruled that the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional and cannot be recited in schools because the phrase 'under God' violates the separation of church and state. Do you think the phrase 'under God' should or should not be part of the Pledge of Allegiance?

Jewish Identity

30. How important would you say being Jewish is in your own life?

31. Which one of the following qualities do you consider most important to your Jewish identity?

32. Do you belong to a synagogue or temple?

33. Do you think of yourself as ...

34. In your opinion, which is a greater threat to Jewish life in the United States today--intermarriage or anti-Semitism?

ANTI-SEMITISM

35. Do you think that anti-Semitism in the United States is currently a very serious problem, somewhat of a problem, or not a problem at all?

36. Do you think that anti-Semitism on American college campuses is currently a very serious problem, somewhat of a problem, or not a problem at all?

37. Looking ahead over the next several years, do you think that anti-Semitism in the United States will increase greatly, increase somewhat, remain the same, decrease somewhat, or decrease greatly?

38. In your opinion, what proportion of each of the following groups in the United States is anti-Semitic-most, many, some, very few, or none?

39. Do you think that anti-Semitism in Europe is currently a very serious problem, somewhat of a problem, or not a problem at all?

40. Do you think that anti-Semitism in the Muslim world is currently a very serious problem, somewhat of a problem, or not a problem at all?

41. Looking ahead over the next several years, do you think that anti-Semitism around the world will increase greatly, increase somewhat, remain the same, decrease somewhat, or decrease greatly?