Jews who identify themselves as Democrats strongly agree with the Israeli position and disagree with President Obama's on issues such as a Palestinian state, settlement construction, and trading land for peace.
A telephone survey conducted by the National Opinion Research Center of 500 American Jews who say they are Democrats found broad disagreement with the Obama Middle East foreign policy.
Asked to choose between Obama's view that "if Israel could settle its dispute with the Palestinian refugees and give them a nation of their own, that the Arabs would live in peace with Israel" and the Israeli government opinion that "the Arabs will never live in peace with Israel and that giving them a nation of their own will just make them stronger," Jewish Democrats sided with the Israeli view by 52-20.
On the contentious issue of construction in existing West Bank settlements, Democratic Jews also sided with Israel more than with Obama. The survey asked them whether they agreed with Obama when he "says that it is very important that Israel not expand its settlements on the West Bank so as not to alienate the Palestinians," or with Israel that "it should be allowed to build new homes in existing settlements but not to start new ones," they backed the Israeli view by 52-37.
Democratic Jews still strongly back Obama in general with 92 percent reporting that they approve of the job he is doing as president. But 44 percent feel that "Obama is naive in thinking he can make peace with the Arabs" while only 37 percent disagree.
While a plurality of Jewish Democrats reject the idea that Obama is biased against Israel, half either agree that he is biased or are undecided. In all, 49 percent said he was not biased against Israel, 16 percent said that he was, and 35 percent said they were undecided.
By 58-16, Jewish Democrats agree that "Obama is doing a good job of promoting peace in the Middle East."
But Jewish Democrats share Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's skepticism about trading land for peace, the cornerstone of the "roadmap" to a settlement laid out in Oslo, Norway, in the 1990s. Only 27 percent feel that "President Obama is right that Israel should agree to let the Palestinians form their own country and return the West Bank to them. This would defuse the hatred in the Middle East, reduce terrorism and help America, the Palestinians, and Israel live in peace."