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Survey: Sentiment toward Israel among U.S. Religious Audiences
(Religion News Service) A new survey of 2,033 Christian adults conducted on March 8-14, 2024, shows that support for Israel among evangelicals is largely based on age and Biblical knowledge and has not been substantively impacted by the current Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The current conflict generates a negative view of Palestinians and Muslims, with a decrease in the image of Muslims, a decrease in support for an independent Palestinian state, and a larger blame for Palestinians in the conflict. Catholics are the least supportive of Jewish interests and causes, and exhibit the highest support for antisemitic tropes. Yet their views remained stable between 2022 and 2024, meaning that the current crisis has not substantively altered Catholic opinions. While mainline Protestant denominations have been active in supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, the 2024 survey shows that 80% of mainline congregants have never even heard of the BDS movement and only 7% support it. Thus, the views of the mainline clergy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are out-of-sync with the views of the congregants. The researchers found that attitudes toward Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict vary among first-generation immigrants based on the length of their residence in the U.S. "The longer one resides in the U.S., the more pro-Israel and the less pro-Palestinian they become," said Motti Inbari, professor of Jewish studies at UNC Pembroke. "American pro-Israel culture changes immigrant attitudes over time."