American Jews also believe anti-Semitism is more rife among American conservatives than liberals, even though actual surveys of American opinion regarding Jews do not support this assumption. This is linked with that tendency to categorical thinking about political “allies,” a wish to see protection in immersing Jewish interests in larger groups, particularly alliances of the disadvantaged, and a consequent difficulty recognizing that perceived allies may not see things the way one imagines and wishes.
A notable related phenomenon is that even though support for Israel has in recent years been significantly stronger among Republicans than Democrats, American Jews remain overwhelmingly Democrat.
Illustrative of the former point is a poll of American opinion conducted last August, during the Israel-Hizbullah war, by the Pew Research Center. To a question presenting various choices of what should be America’s position on the war, 54 percent of Republican respondents favored supporting Israel and 5 percent preferred criticizing it. In contrast, 31 percent of Democrats chose support for Israel, 11 percent criticism. To a question of who was most responsible for the war, 55 percent of Republicans answered Hizbullah, 9 percent Israel. Among Democrats, 33 percent said Hizbullah, 15 percent Israel.
Regarding the political affiliation of American Jews, in October 2006 the American Jewish Cmmittee released its Annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion reflecting polling from late September to mid-October. It turned out that 54 percent of American Jews identified as Democrats and 15 percent as Republicans (29 percent as Independents). In the 2004 presidential election about three-quarters of American Jews voted for Democrat John Kerry and in the recent congressional elections an even higher percentage voted for Democratic candidates.
For those who, in the face of collective memories of anti-Jewish depredations, have hollowed out their “Jewish” identity and reduced it largely to a political commitment to a Left imagined as some righteous alliance of the traditionally targeted and disadvantaged, current political predilections are not likely to change.
For those whose Jewish identity is richer and in whom the dissonance between Jewish well-being and old political assumptions might arouse some inner tension, that tension could result in a shift in traditional political allegiances.
But in America, as in Israel itself, it is likely that old Jewish political patterns, born in response to chronic besiegement, will continue to compromise Jewish well-being and even undermine the Jewish state.
