Major poll: Americans opt for 'democratic' over 'Jewish' Israel

Washington – Almost three-quarters of respondents to a major poll found that Americans would prefer Israel to be a democratic state over a Jewish state of Israel, if the occupation of Palestinian territory continues indefinitely. 

In a poll by the University of Maryland, 80 percent of Democrats said that Israel should prioritize its democratic character over its Jewish one. Sixty-four percent of Republicans, who have a more favorable approach to Israel, agreed.

Even among Evangelical Christians - the most ardent supporters of Israel - a majority of 58 percent preferred a non-Jewish democratic Israel to its inverse. 

For the first time, the poll also delved into attitudes toward Zionism and antisemitism. Seventy percent of respondents said such criticism of Israel was not antisemitic. A majority of Republicans, too, concurred. 

The poll was conducted during a critical juncture in U.S.-Israeli relations, and amidst a growing consensus that the two-state solution is no longer possible. It also comes as leading international and even Israeli human rights groups have charged Israel with committing the crime of apartheid. 

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have issued reports in the last two years making this case, as have B'Tselem and Yesh Din, though the latter only applied its analysis to the occupied West Bank. This comes years after Palestinian groups have posited a similar conclusion.