What are some Jewish perspectives on Israel?

Answer 1

Most Jews believe that Israel is the land of their forefathers and Prophets; the land promised to them by God (Genesis 28:10-13), to which they have a historic, emotional and spiritual attachment.

As concerns Israeli politics and policy, there are as many opinions as there are Jews. There are positions like those of Neturei Karta who vigorously oppose any Jewish settlement of Israel (and believe the area should be given to the Palestinians) and those like the Religious Zionists who refuse to follow Israeli settlement laws because they believe Jewish settlement of Israel is a divine mandate (and believe that most if not all Palestinians should be evicted) and just about every opinion in between.

Answer 2

The problem with this type of question is that it fails to take into account the wide variety of Jewish opinion and numerous different Palestinian conflicts.

In terms of Jews, you have nearly every stretch of political opinion from those who believe in ardent nationalism to those who believe in communism to those who believe in a theocratic state to those who believe in ethnic integration to those who believe in ethnic separation, etc. Additionally, Jews live in over 100 countries, which further increases the variety of opinions.

In terms of Palestinian Conflicts, there are three major ones: the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (between the Israeli military and Palestinian Militant Groups and non-combatants in the former British Mandate of Palestine), the Arab-Palestinian Conflict (between Arab militaries and Palestinian Militant Groups and non-combatants in the various Arab States - like Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon), and the Palestinian Civil War (between Fatah and Hamas primarily over control of the Palestinian Territories.

As a result of the innumerable Jewish opinions and the three very different Palestinian Conflicts, this question becomes more of a mix-and-match than anything with a definable answer.

Even though there are numerous possible questions that this could be, the answer below will discuss Israeli Jewish opinion on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. If the question intended something else, please resubmit it with a clearer name.

Israeli Jews have a myriad of opinions as concerns Israel's treatment of Palestinians. Many Liberal Jewish Israelis decry the Occupation and request a partial if not full military withdrawal from the Territories and the granting of Statehood to Palestine. More Moderate Israelis (the majority) want to engage Palestine in negotiations, but are less willing to cede key regions and territories. In addition, they want an armistice (from the Palestinian side) as a precondition to negotiations, which is not likely to happen due to Hamas's control of Gaza. The Orthodox Jewish Communities of Israel do not involve themselves much with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because they consider Israel to be a non-Jewish State that they happen to live in (just like the United States is a non-Jewish State that many Jews happen to live in). Few of them actively engage in politics, but those who do focus on domestic concerns. The Religious Zionists believe that the holiest territory from the British Mandate of Palestine is in what is now called the West Bank. As a result, they are strongly against the independence of an Arab State on this land and have actively built settlements and other structures in the West Bank to Jewish-ify it.

Answer 3

Answer 1

This question does not discriminate between the two Israels, that is to say the Government of the State of Israel and the Opinions of the Israeli Citizenry.

Government: Israel's Government, like that of all democracies is prone to opinion changes and policy changes. The current government is one of the most conservative in Israel's history and does not currently advocate for a two-state solution, saying that the first stage is to build up Palestinian infrastructure to the point where a two-state solution may eventually be viable. However, most Israeli governments have been interested in dealing with the Palestinians and this has lead to the Oslo Accords and the creation of the Palestinian Authority. Previous Prime Ministers such as Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert (although conservative) believed in an eventual two-state solution. The rub often becomes where the borders of these two states would be, especially as concerns Jerusalem because both Israelis and Palestinians want the Old City, which is holy for both.

General Population: Israelis have a myriad of opinions as concerns Israel's treatment of Palestinians. Many Arab-Israelis and Liberal Jewish-Israelis decry the Occupation and request a partial if not full military withdrawal from the Territories and the granting of Statehood to Palestine. More Moderate Israelis (the majority) want to engage Palestine in negotiations, but are less willing to cede key regions and territories. In addition, they want an armistice (from the Palestinian side) as a precondition to negotiations, which is not likely to happen due to Hamas's control of Gaza. The Orthodox Communities of Israel do not involve themselves much with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because they consider Israel to be a non-Jewish State that they happen to live in (just like the United States is a non-Jewish State that many Jews happen to live in). Few of them actively engage in politics, but those who do focus on domestic concerns. The Religious Zionists believe that the holiest territory from the British Mandate of Palestine is in what is now called the West Bank. As a result, they are strongly against the independence of an Arab State on this land and have actively built settlements and other structures in the West Bank to Jewish-ify it.

Answer 2

The Israelis' view is that of a radical extremist minority within the Palestinian population is driving the two people away from peace and into a brutal conflict. That radical minority must step down from power and give the Palestinian people a real chance for peace.