East Bay Jewish Community Study - Jewish Federation of the ...

Israel and the East Bay
Support for the state of Israel falls in the middle of priorities for East Bay Jewish residents. Core
Jewish values around healing the world far exceed Israel as important to being Jewish, though it
ranks higher than religious observance or marrying someone Jewish. Affiliated Jews are far
more likely than unaffiliated Jews to care about and make charitable contributions to Israel
related causes.
Specifically:
• Israel is a somewhat lower priority for Jewish residents of the East Bay than other
aspects of Jewish life. Four in ten say that standing up for the state of Israel is a very
important part of being Jewish. Nineteen percent say that traveling to Israel is very
important to being Jewish.
• Most say they follow the news about Israel regularly (70 percent weekly or monthly).
• Making Israel a priority is important largely to the affiliated Jewish world, not the
unaffiliated Jewish world.
• Jewish residents are more likely to give charitable donations to provide general support
for the Jewish community (35 percent) than to causes related to Israel (28 percent).
Four in ten East Bay Jewish residents think that supporting the state of Israel is a very important
part of being Jewish. Traveling to Israel, however, is significantly less important (19 percent
very important). Three-quarters of East Bay Jews regularly consume news about Israel, though
most are not subscribers to Jewish publications.
Residents who place a high importance on supporting Israel and traveling there have strong ties
to the local Jewish community, as well as the Jewish faith overall. More than half (53 percent)
of those who think supporting Israel is a very important aspect of being Jewish describe their
involvement in the Jewish community as a lot or somewhat, 20 points higher than average;
among those who value travel to Israel, this number inches up slightly to 57 percent. Those
who think that supporting Israel is very important have a strong sense of belonging to the
Jewish people, as do those who think that traveling there; but, among those who value travel to
the country, an overwhelming 93 percent have a strong sense of belonging.
Just over one quarter of residents (28 percent) have donated money to Israel or to issues facing
Israel. Almost half (48 percent) of those who responded that supporting Israel is a very
important aspect of Judaism have donated money to causes or charities related to Israel though
they are not more likely to have given to the Jewish Federation of the East Bay (29 percent
have donated to the Jewish Federation compared to 27 percent overall).
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