Most say Diaspora has no right to publicly criticize Israel

B'nai B'rith World Center poll shows that 46% believe every Jew should make aliyah.

By HAVIV RETTIG GUR
pro-israel support US298 (photo credit: AP)
pro-israel support US298
(photo credit: AP)
Diaspora Jews have no right to publicly criticize Israel's government, since they don't share the burdens of life in the Jewish state, according to a majority of Jewish Israelis who responded this week to a poll conducted for the B'nai B'rith World Center. While 54 percent rejected the right of Diaspora Jews to criticize the government, 40% disagreed, siding with the statement that "every Jew is a partner in Israel, no matter where they live." Forty-six percent of the respondents believe every Jew should make aliya, while 41% expressed agreement with the statement that "Jews should live dispersed in various communities in the world, as diversity and global support is the only way Israel and the Jewish people will be strengthened." The sentiment that all Jews should live in Israel was particularly strong among soldiers, National Union-National Religious Party voters and Sepharidim; 63% of each of these groups held this view. People who voted for Kadima (57%), Gil Pensioners (55%) and United Torah Judaism (52%) were the biggest supporters of a Jewish Diaspora. The vast majority of Israeli Jews see their relationship with the Diaspora as important. Eight-two percent of respondents gave these relations a score of 8 or above on a 1-to-10 scale of importance. More than half (55%) gave it a 10 rating. In addition, 78% said they were interested in media reports on Diaspora communities and Israel-Diaspora relations, including 19% who said they were "very interested." And 88% of respondents said they "support" or "support very much" spending tax money on Israel experience programs such as Masa and birthright-israel. While 32% said they supported tax revenue going to these Jewish identity programs "very much," this figure was surprisingly high for Israelis with only an elementary education (55%), soldiers (55%), and those earning below NIS 4,000 per month (40%). The study comes ahead of the presentation this week of B'nai B'rith's 15th annual Award for Journalism in Recognition of Excellence in Diaspora Reportage, at which Jerusalem Post news editor Amir Mizroch will be receiving a Certificate of Merit for his blog-based coverage of last year's UJC General Assembly in Los Angeles. The survey was conducted by KEEVOON Research using a nationwide representative sample of 500 Jewish Israelis over 18. It has a margin of error of 4.5%.