Outside the Land: Hypothesizing the Political Psychology of American Jews on Issues of Israel

Abstract

My research explores whether or not American Jewish perspectives on Israeli government policies are changing. I review literature on American Jewish history and political involvement, and I develop a “spectrum” model to locate American Jewish views on Israeli policies over the last decade. I cite opinion poll data and testimonials to hypothesize that American Jewish perspectives on Israeli policies are shifting along the spectrum model. I further hypothesize the conditions under which American Jewish views on Israeli policies shift, and in what direction we can expect views to shift when those conditions are met. I outline methods for testing my hypotheses, and I conclude by analyzing the potential implications of correct hypotheses and by offering additional questions for future researchers.

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