The last two years have seen a significant decrease in evangelical support for Israel, a new study conducted at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke reveals.
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According to the report, which will be presented at Tel Aviv University's Center for the Study of the United States on June 17, in partnership with the Fulbright Program, support among young evangelicals went from 69% to 33.6% in just two years.
The survey, which included 700 Evangelic participants between the ages of 18-29, also showed that support for the establishment of a Palestinian state increased from 35% in 2018 to 44.7% in 2021. Only 22.5% opposed the idea.
Of those who supported Israel, 59% said it was for religious reasons. Of those who supported Palestine, 48.4% noted it stemmed from political reasons and 40% due to "a gut feeling."
Nonetheless, an overwhelming majority of 71.6% felt that all of Jerusalem ought to remain Israel's capital and opposed a two-state solution, and 41.5% felt Israel's treatment of the Palestinians was fair. Only 22.8% thought it was unfair.
Developing a close relationship with the community has been the pillar of Israeli foreign policy during the reign of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli ambassador to the US Ron Dermer.
"Considering the demographic changes taking place on the other side of the political map that are likely to weaken support for Israel within the Democratic Party, it seems that the Israeli government's decision to abandon large segments of the liberal, progressive public and gamble only on evangelical support was a losing bet that might end up costing us dearly," Dr. Yoav Fromer from Tel Aviv University said.
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