Russian-born Israelis and their mistrust of everybody

I have to apologize twice at the outset of this post: Once, for writing so much in recent days about new ‎polls – apparently, Passover is not just the holiday of matza, it’s also the great holiday of Jewish polls ‎‎(there are still a couple of such new polls waiting for me). The more important apology, though, is the one ‎concerning the content of what you’re about to read: I’ll show you some interesting findings, for which I ‎only have a partial explanation. The numbers are striking; the reasons are often beyond me – if I’m able to ‎find someone to provide an explanation down the road, I’ll make sure to share his/her observations with ‎you.‎

The poll I’m writing about today is one that I already mentioned a couple of days ago, as I was writing Do Israelis support an attack on Iran? It is a recent poll, commissioned by ‎The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, and conducted by Domain’s resident magician, Prof. Camil ‎Fuchs. Seventy-seven percent think Iran is an existential threat, says the poll, and the papers reporting ‎its findings generally followed this story line. Between the lines, though, there’s another interesting story ‎hidden – the one about Russian immigrants to Israel and their somewhat different approach to Iran. The ‎good people of JCPA provided Rosner’s Domain content editor Sara Miller with the crosstab tables, ‎from which this story emerges. ‎

So here it is: Russian-born Israelis (those who immigrated after 1990), generally speaking, accept that Iran ‎is a threat to Israel. However, they seem less afraid of it, and are also more skeptical when it comes to any ‎attempt to stop Iran. They don’t trust the IDF as much as most other Israelis, but also don’t trust the ‎promises of President Obama. In some ways, they respond exactly like “religious” (and more hawkish) ‎Israelis, but in others they respond more like “secular” Israelis (Russian Israelis tend to be secular but ‎hawkish – so that’s to be expected). ‎

Have something to say about this? Join the debate at Rosner’s Domain on Facebook

Take a look for example, at this table, comparing Jewish Israelis from different sectors on the question: ‎Do you agree/disagree that if Iran will acquire nuclear weapon it will use it against Israel? Just 15% of ‎Russian Israelis totally agree with such assertion, compared to double this number in the general ‎population. Fifty-five percent of Russians agree with it, compared to more than 60% on average, and ‎more than 70% among religious Israelis.

‎

‎

‎

‎

Russian Israelis tend to trust the American military just a little less than other Israelis (82% would trust it to ‎‎“significantly hit” Iran’s nuclear program, compared to 87% on average) – but their trust of Israel’s military ‎is another story. Take a look: Can the IDF significantly hit Iran’s nuclear program?

‎

‎

‎

Interestingly, all Israelis trust the US military much more than they trust the IDF (87% and 66% ‎respectively). But two sectors stand apart, as their trust of Israel’s military is much higher than the others’ – ‎the patriotic religious are the most trustful of the IDF (but even they trust the US military more), and ‎traditional Israelis also tend to trust it. The odd group of the secular, the Haredi and the Russian Israelis ‎have much greater doubts.
‎
But look how these groups regroup when another question is asked: While the Russians and the Haredim ‎differ much to the religious when it comes to trusting the IDF – they have a lot in common when it comes ‎to trusting the American president, Barack Obama. Fifty-eight percent of secular Israelis agree that ‎Obama’s statements reflect readiness to act in order to prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb. But this number ‎drops significantly when more traditional Israelis ponder Obama’s commitment. The most hawkish ‎‎“religious” are the least trustful of Obama, and their partners in this alliance of mistrust are the Haredi and ‎the (secular but hawkish) Russians: 
‎

‎

‎

‎

‎

‎

To conclude: ‎
‎
‎