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Israeli teens at Auschwitz
Yonatan Zur

Israeli teens: Country under existential threat

ADL survey finds growing number of Israeli youth believe Israel under 'serious threat of destruction,' but only nine percent deem second Holocaust as real possibility

WASHINGTON - A majority of Israeli teens believe the country is under "serious threat" of destruction, a survey published by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day and Israel's 60th anniversary revealed.

 

According to the telephone survey of 500 teenagers between the ages of 15 and 17, which was conducted in late March, a growing number of Israeli youth - 30% - believe that "Israel is under a serious threat of destruction" compared to 24% in 2007, while 52% said they believe "Israel is under "a certain threat of destruction," a slight decline from 59% in 2007.

 

On the question of whether "a second Holocaust of the Jewish people is possible or not," nine percent of those polled said there was a real possibility, compared to 6% in 2007; 30% said there was a certain possibility, and 59% said a second Holocaust was not possible.

 

The survey further revealed that organized trips to historic sites and former concentration camps in Poland had a profound impact on the vast majority of Israeli teens who participated, while those who opted not to go cited "a lack of finances" and "lack of interest."

 

According to the poll, 91% of Israeli teenagers have an awareness of global anti-Semitism, but 80% of them have never encountered it.

 

'YouTube generation'

The most common answers to the question "what comes to your mind when you hear the term 'anti-Semitism?'" included: Holocaust (32%), Nazis (26%), Germany (17%), Iran (14%), hatred of Jews (13%), infinite hatred (10%), Jews (9%), racism (8%), Hitler (8%), Arabs (7%), France (4%), and terror (2%).

 

In addition, nearly half (48%) of teenagers polled said they saw criticism of Israel as being anti-Semitic, up from 43% in 2007.

 

When asked, "How should Israel react to manifestations of anti-Semitism?," 24% said react only in very severe cases, 69% said react in any case, and 6% said not to react in any case. These results were consistent with the 2007 poll.

 

Thirty percent of the teenagers who took part in the survey said they had no awareness of acts against Jewish institutions in Israel. Of those who did, half saw them as anti-Semitic attacks, while the rest saw it as vandalism, acts to gain attention, or adjustment problems. Those who visited Poland were more likely not to see them as anti-Semitic acts.

 

ADL National Director Abe Foxman said in response to the poll "Israeli teenagers understand anti-Semitism in the context of history and not as something they might encounter in their daily lives. Yet there is a growing awareness of contemporary anti-Semitism and threats to Israel's existence."

 

"As the YouTube generation, they are much more aware of attacks on Jews and the Jewish State," he said.

 


פרסום ראשון: 04.30.08, 23:00
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