Support for Israel among Jewish communities in Europe has increased dramatically, according to a 2018 survey of community leaders and Jewish professionals recently published by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.
Of the 893 respondents from 28 European countries and Turkey, 68% said they fully support Israel, regardless of its government's actions. In comparison, 55% said they fully supported Israel in a poll taken in 2015, and 61% and 56% said they did in the first two such polls taken in 2008, 2011, respectively.
Meanwhile 42% of respondents said they agreed with the statement "I am sometimes ashamed of the actions of the Israeli government," compared to 51% in 2015.
In Western Europe, only 11% of respondents said their communities demonstrated "a great deal of disagreement with Israel." In Eastern Europe, the number stood at an impressive 1%.
The survey further founds that European Jews do not plan on emigrating any time soon. According to the survey, 76% of respondents said they had not made plans to emigrate out of concerns over anti-Semitism in the last five years. Sixty-three percent said they feel "fairly safe," while 20% said they felt "very safe," 13% said they did not feel safe and 4% said they do not feel safe at all.
At 96%, Jews in Eastern Europe feel safer than their Western European counterparts, 76% of whom said they feel safe.
According to the survey, the rate of intermarriage dropped from 64% at 2008 to 40% in 2018. In 2015, the rate stood at 44%%.
At 66%, respondents said the greatest threat to the future of European Jews was alienation from Jewish community life, followed by democratic decline at 65%. Anti-Semitism came in as the sixth most pressing concern at 56%, an increase from the 23% who cited it as the most pressing concern a decade ago.
Warsaw's Chabad Rabbi Shalom Stambler said the results of the survey bolstered "what I personally see every day here in Warsaw and in Poland in general.
"Most of the Jewish communities identify strongly with Israel and a majority would therefore agree that they fully support Israel, regardless of its government's actions."
Stambler said that compared to Western Europe, the situation in Poland is much better and Jews feel relatively safe. As for concerns Jews were alienated from "Jewish community life" and suffering from demographic decline, Stambler said "that is the reason we are here, to be an address for every Jew here and strengthen their Jewish identity."
