New poll of Anglos: 36% say 'we must organize politically' - EXCLUSIVE
Yamina backed most; 8% say form Anglo party
By GIL HOFFMANPeople vote in Jerusalem on election day, March 2, 2020.(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Three-quarters of English-speaking Israelis in Israel identify themselves as part of an “Anglo community,” and 36% say they must organize themselves the way Russian-speaking immigrants did, according to the most comprehensive survey of Anglos ever conducted.The poll found that 31% of Anglos who see themselves as part of a community say they do not believe they should organize themselves like Russian speakers, 20% say they believe they already organized themselves in a similar way, and 13% say none of the above.The survey was sponsored by the Anglo Vision, an initiative of English-speaking Israelis who seek to coalesce a community around a vision of unifying positions that can effect change, development and progress and contribute to Israel.The poll of 421 respondents, representing a statistical sample of the adult Anglo population in Israel, was conducted from July 20 to August 30 by pollsters Stephan Miller and Chloe Yosha. Respondents were recruited via 59 Israeli Facebook groups and advertisements on The Jerusalem Post website and other sites aimed at English speakers in Israel.The survey defined Anglos as born in an English-speaking country or having one or more parents born in an English-speaking country and having high-level English. The margin of error was 4.77% at a confidence level of 95%.“The poll is intended to determine where the Anglo community stands and get a pulse on what issues are important to us,” said Anglo Vision founder Rabbi David Fine, who lives in Modi’in and led congregations in Kansas City and Milwaukee.There are between 300,000 and 400,000 Anglos in Israel, Fine estimated, which would be worth several mandates in the Knesset.Asked how they would vote if an election were held now, 25% said Yamina, 15% Yesh Atid, 13% Likud, 10% Blue and White, 6% Meretz, 4% UTJ and 2% Yisrael Beytenu. Twenty-four percent said they don’t know.Similar to the general voting population, 49% identified themselves as right-wing, 25% as centrist and 22% as left-wing or leaning Left.The poll found strong support for issues Anglo Vision supports, including making Sunday a day off, increasing representation and accountability in government, fighting efforts to boycott Israel, making aliyah a national priority and improving absorption counseling and career training and development for new immigrants.
When asked which issues are important to them when they vote, Anglos cited economic issues first, followed by political issues and education and healthcare. Eleven percent said security and foreign relations, and another 11% said matters of religion and state.Asked how to have the most impact on the Israeli government, 58% said to support a party closest to their ideology, irrespective if they specifically represent them, 13% said to support nongovernmental organizations that effect change in public policy, 10% backed supporting a specific Anglo representative in an existing political party whose role was to specifically represent them, and 8% said supporting a new political party that represents Anglos. Twelve percent said other or none of the above.The poll’s results would be presented to various politicians from across the political spectrum, Fine said. No political goals have been considered yet by his organization, which decided to first check what the Anglo community believes via the poll, he said.“Anglos don’t really have a voice in the public agenda and the direction where the country is going, and we decided we wanted to change that,” Fine said. “We sit on the sidelines and let others decide for us. But we have a lot of ideas to make the country even better.”
