(RNS) — On the eve of the holiday of Passover, a new poll shows a majority of American Jews oppose the joint U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, even as 90% of them say they oppose the Iranian regime.
The poll, commissioned by J Street, the liberal Zionist advocacy and lobby group, found that 60% of U.S. Jews oppose the war and a staggering 77% do not believe “President Trump has a clear plan and mission for the war.”
Another poll of U.S. Jews, by the Jewish Electorate Institute, also released on Monday, showed similar results, with 55% of American Jews opposing military action against Iran. The two polls show that Jewish attitudes against the war are comparable to the opposition among all Americans (58% opposition in the Fox News poll conducted March 20-23).
The poll suggests a growing rift between U.S. Jews and Israeli Jews who have thus far supported the Iran war.
“This data is a wake-up call for anyone claiming to speak for the American Jewish community while beating the drums of war,” J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami said in a statement. “Most American Jews see this war for what it is: A reckless, unforced error by a President who has no clear, achievable goals or an exit strategy.”
The poll results come one day ahead of the Passover holiday, which begins Wednesday (April 1) and celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. This is the third year in which the holiday of freedom is celebrated during a time when Israelis — and now the U.S. — are engaged in war.
Orthodox Jews were the only group that supported the war in Iran but they form a small fraction of the …