2010 Annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion

Methods Statement
The Annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion is a poll commissioned by the American Jewish Committee. It is conducted by Synovate, a leading survey-research organization. The Survey of American Jewish Opinion has been conducted yearly since the early 1990’s. Over the years, the question styles and methodology have been kept as stable as possible to provide consistent results from year to year.

The Consumer Opinion Panel has served and continues to serve as the primary sample source for the survey. Panel members are recruited to join the panel and participate in surveys conducted by Synovate. Several times a year, the panel is screened for religious self-identification. In 2008, the sample source was broadened by including a sample from a distinctive name list supplied by Scientific Telephone Samples, Inc. This decision came about as Synovate panel recruiting methods moved more towards supporting online interviewing capabilities in addition to phone and mail. It was felt a broader base would help insure more reliable results.

The Annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion is a telephone survey that uses a stratified sample design with targets by 6 age categories and gender. Both the panel and list provide general age and gender information. Sample size targets are set by these criteria and the interviewing works the sample diligently to achieve these sample size targets. Respondents are always asked to verify their age and their religious identification. Although no strict sample size is set for the ratio of listed sample to total, the plan is to achieve about a 1 in 5 ratio. The percents of the sample from the listed sample source were 18.8%, 16.8% and 21.6% in 2008, 2009, and 2010 surveys, respectively.

If the survey coincides with the Jewish holidays, interviewing is suspended for those days. No interviewing takes place on Friday nights or Saturdays. Interviewing was conducted by trained and experienced interviewers with supervision provided by Synovate study directors. Interviews are monitored continuously to assure quality and interviewer consistency.

Among the topics covered in the 2010 Annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion are U.S.-Israeli relations, the Arab-Israel conflict, and the Iranian nuclear threat. Some of the questions appearing in the survey are new; others are drawn from previous AJC surveys, including the various Annual Surveys of American Jewish Opinion carried out between 1979 and 2009.

The 2010 survey began interviewing by telephone on March 2 and continued until March 23. The sample consisted of 800 self-identifying Jewish respondents, representative of the United States 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.

A. Obama Administration

1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as President?

2. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling each of the following?

Approve

Disapprove

Not sure

A. The economy

B. Health care

C. Homeland security

B. U.S.-Israel Relations

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

Very positive	10
Somewhat positive	63
Somewhat negative	22
Very negative	4
Not sure	1

4. Do you approve or disapprove of the Obama Administration's handling of U.S.-Israel relations?

5. Do you approve or disapprove of the Netanyahu government's handling of Israel-U.S. relations?

C. Arab-Israel Conflict

6. As compared with one year ago, are you 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?

More optimistic	6
Less optimistic	22
Same as one year ago	72
Not sure	1

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

8. 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?

Yes	35
No	61
Not Sure	4

9. 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?

All	8
Some	56
None	34
Not sure	2

10. 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.”

Agree	75
Disagree	20
Not Sure	5

11. Do you think that Israel can or cannot achieve peace with a Hamas-led Palestinian government?

Can	16
Cannot	80
Not Sure	4

12. Should the Palestinians be required or not be required to recognize Israel as a Jewish state in a final peace agreement?

Required	94
Not required	3
Not sure	1

D. International Issues

13. Do you approve or disapprove of the Obama Administration’s handling of the Iran nuclear issue?

14. How much of a chance do you think there is that a combination of diplomacy and sanctions can stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons? Is there a good chance, some chance, little chance, or no chance?

Good chance	5
Some chance	27
Little chance	45
No chance	23
Not sure	1

15. Would you support or oppose the United States taking military action against Iran to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons?

Support	53
Oppose	42
Not sure	4

16. Would you support or oppose Israel taking military action against Iran to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons?

Support	62
Oppose	33
Not sure	5

17. Barack Obama has approved the deployment of an additional 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Do you agree or disagree with this decision?

Agree	62
Disagree	35
Not Sure	4

18. I would like you to rate your feelings towards some countries, 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 . . .

Mean Score
a. Russia	54
b. India	64
c. Venezuela	42
d. Jordan	47
e. Turkey	52
f. China	49
g. Egypt	49
h. United States	88
i. Saudi Arabia	34
j. Germany	57

E. Anti-Semitism

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

Very serious problem	25
Somewhat of a problem	66
Not a problem at all	9
Not sure	0

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

Very serious problem	51
Somewhat of a problem	44
Not a problem at all	3
Not sure	2

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

Very serious problem	87
Somewhat of a problem	11
Not a problem at all	1
Not Sure	1

22. 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?

Increase greatly	14
Increase somewhat	36
Remain the same	41
Decrease somewhat	7
Decrease greatly	1

F. Background Factors

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

Republican	15
Democrat	50
Independent	32
Not sure	2

24. Do you think of yourself as . . .

Orthodox	10
Conservative	24
Reconstructionist	2
Reform	26
Just Jewish	37
Not sure	1

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

Very important	51
Fairly important	34
Not very important	15
Not sure	0

26. How close do you feel to Israel?

Very close	30
Fairly close	44
Fairly distant	20
Very distant	5
Not sure	0