Generational Differences Dramatically Influence Support for Israel
Generational differences – with their accompanying ideological influences – account for a dramatic negative shift in support for Israel between baby boomers and millennials. This is just one of the conclusions of a recent study by the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values (JILV).
The study compared attitudes of likely U.S. voters who are boomers (58-76-year olds) to those of millennials (26-41-year olds). Questions about Israel and Jews were asked through a variety of lenses – party affiliation, political ideology and support for intersectional or ”woke” causes.
While the poll indicates that support for Israel is very strong among boomers, the same is not true for millennials, the first generation significantly influenced by woke culture.
Boomers Versus Millennials
When asked, “Who do you favor, Israel or the Palestinians,” boomers favored Israel by a 4:1 ratio (percentage-wise, 52 to 12 percent). However, among millennials, Israel sympathizers and Palestinian sympathizers are almost equal – 31 percent vs. 29 percent.
Thus, just two generations represent a shocking 38-point percentage change.
Similarly, how Israel is perceived has also changed dramatically in two generations. The poll asked both groups to choose between two dramatically different perceptions of Israel, either as:
“an occupier and a colonizer using modern military power to attack defenseless Palestinian civilians to steal more indigenous Palestinian land,” or alternatively, as a
“sovereign nation which has the right and the obligation to defend itself from terrorists intent on killing civilians.”
Boomers chose the “Israel as a sovereign nation” option by a 6:1 ratio (66 percent vs. 11 percent). But among millennials, the gap narrowed considerably. Forty-one percent chose the sovereign nation option versus 33 percent who chose the occupier option.
Again, in two generations, the poll found an enormous difference – this time, 47 percentage points.
Generational Differences and Woke Ideology
The shift in attitudes about Israel due to generational differences is primarily due to the rise of “woke ideology” among younger Americans and its accompanying dogma of identity politics, according to the study.
The study identified five principles of woke ideology:
Favoring Critical Race Theory
Favoring the diversity, equity and inclusion agenda
Seeing gender as fluid rather than fixed
Viewing people of color and LGBT individuals as having too little power
Seeing white people as benefiting from privilege
For those who scored lowest in belief in woke ideology, support for Israel vs. the Palestinians was 7:1 (56 percent to 8 percent). With each incremental increase in support for woke culture, support for Israel diminished. Those who scored in the top level of “wokeness” favor Palestinians over Israel by 31 to 25 percent.
The results are similar in terms of how these groups perceive Israel.
Those who exhibit the lowest level of support for wokeness favored the “sovereign nation” vs. “occupier” conception of Israel by a 7:1 ratio (70 vs. 10 percent). But among those with the highest support for woke causes, Israel as the occupier versus Israel as the sovereign nation was favored 32 to 36 percent.
Woke Ideology and Anti-Semitism
Similarly, the study identified another alarming trend among those who identify as “progressive” and “very liberal”: the belief in anti-Semitic tropes.
According to the study:
80 percent of those who identify as “progressive” and “very liberal” believe that Jews in America have “unfair advantages” that need to be addressed
Close to 20 percent of “progressive” and “very liberal” groups say that American Jews have too much power
Close to 25 percent of “progressive” and “very liberal” groups say Jews “benefit from privilege”
In addition, 45 percent of progressives view Israel not as a sovereign nation with the right to defend itself from terrorism but rather as an “occupier and colonizer using modern military power to attack defenseless Palestinian civilians to steal more indigenous Palestinian land.”
Generational Differences: Political Sorting
The study identified a new social trend called “political sorting.” As the study’s analyzers explain,
“... political sorting, which is often confused with polarization, is a fairly new phenomenon and is where ideological and attitudinal positions no longer vary but are expected to align to particular liberal or conservative attitudes.”
Put simply, the country is rapidly dividing into two camps: progressive and conservative. Each camp comes with its “package” of ideas, and each expects its adherents to adopt the entire package.
In previous generations, conservative liberals and liberal conservatives were not unusual in the political landscape. There was also compromise between political parties. It was in this environment that support for Israel was always a bipartisan affair. However, in today’s reality of political sorting,
“... dissent and divergence become almost impossible if one is to avoid adverse social consequences and possibly real professional ramifications as well … This is exactly what is happening with respect to [support for] Israel.”
David Bernstein, CEO of JILV, notes that taken in sum, the poll’s indications are disturbing.
“This poll confirms some of the worst fears of the Jewish community—that a dogmatic commitment to critical theory and a social justice lens can contribute significantly to antisemitism.
While the majority of Americans support freedom of speech, oppose hyper-partisanship and support traditional liberal values, the far left continues to view politics as a zero-sum game—dividing the world into ‘oppressors’ and ‘oppressed,’ and willing to expel those they disagree with from their social circle—and the results aren’t good for Jews.”