New analysis from Crossroads23 shows politically progressive Jews are less concerned about security and more worried about anti-democratic trends in Israel.
New analysis from Crossroads23: Surveying Australian Jews on Israel shows the divisions between Australian Jews on the challenges facing the Jewish people and on Australian Jews’ responsibilities to Israel.
The survey of 1200 Australian Jews was conducted by The Jewish Independent with the support of the Zionist Federation, ensuring a wide variety of respondents. Results were analysed by Emeritus Professor Andrew Markus of Monash University.
Initial analysis, published in June and based on closed questions, found Australian Jews overwhelmingly care about and identify with Israel but few agree with the country’s current trajectory, expressing strong concern over judicial reform, the influence of Orthodoxy and corruption.
The first analysis of open-ended questions in the survey is now available. This analysis divides responses based on self-described general political alignment and compares three groups: conservative, moderate and progressive on two questions and produced word maps demonstrating the most commonly used terms.
The analysis found conservative and moderate Australians were more concerned about security and more likely to think of Israel as a matter for Israelis while progressives were more concerned about democracy and more interventionist.
What do you think are the critical challenges facing the Jewish people over the next three years?
The most frequent response was antisemitism, indicated by 33% of those who identified as conservative, 38% moderate, and 21% progressive.
But the next most critical challenge varied more according to political alignment. Conservatives focused on threats from outside Israel. Moderates also cited security but were equally concerned about democracy in Israel and the disunity of the Jewish people. Progressives were most concerned about internal stability in Israel referring to democracy, politics, government, and the judiciary.
