Older, biblically literate Christians more likely to support Israel, Jewish people

The age and biblical knowledge of Christians shapes their opinion of Israel, the Jewish people and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a recent study found.

The comparative study, which simultaneously examined sentiment across mainline, evangelical and Catholic communities, found that a belief that “God’s covenant with the Jewish people remains intact today” has the greatest impact on support for Israel among a number of potential political, theological, sociological and demographic factors considered. If a respondent professes this belief, the likelihood that this person strongly supports Israel increases almost threefold.

The second-most-influential justification across mainline, evangelical and Catholic communities is rooted in history rather than theology, with those who believe “Jews need a state of their own after the Holocaust” being 122 percent more likely to strongly support Israel in the current war. Among the other findings:

• Overall evangelical support for Israel remained stable from 2021 to 2024, although earlier surveys did show a sharp decline in evangelical support for Israel between 2018 and 2021.
• The number of evangelicals viewing Israel in a traditional biblical context, including a decrease in the number of evangelicals agreeing with the idea of the Abrahamic Covenant, decreased.
• Core evangelical behavior, such as attending church and reading the Bible, also decreased Past studies have shown that these religious practices increase support for Israel.
• The current conflict generates a negative view of Palestinians and Muslims. The comparative research shows a decrease in the image of Muslims, a decrease in support for an independent Palestinian state and a larger blame for Palestinians in the conflict. A large segment blamed both sides in both the 2021 and 2024 wars in Gaza.
• In 2024, more evangelicals said they have some knowledge of the conflict compared with 2021, which researchers attribute to more news coverage of Israel in recent months.

Catholics are the least supportive of Jewish interests and causes, and exhibit the highest support for antisemitic tropes among the three surveyed groups. Although mainline denominations have been active in supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, with the United Methodist Church passing a fresh resolution at this summer’s General Conference, the 2024 survey shows that 80 percent of mainline attendees have never even heard of the BDS movement and only seven percent support it.

“A surprising finding has been that the scale of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict does not seem to impact how most respondents perceive the conflict and which party to the conflict they support,” said Kirill Bumin. “Once attitudes about the conflict are formed and crystalized, new information is not likely to significantly dislodge them.”

Here are some of the Israeli children being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.

The researchers also found it interesting how attitudes toward Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict vary among first-generation immigrants and are based on the length of their residence in the U.S. “The gist of it – the longer one resides in the U.S., the more pro-Israel and the less pro-Palestinian they become,” said Motti Inbari. “American pro-Israel culture changes immigrant attitudes over time.”

Recent college protests reflect findings of generational fissures in the American public. The research shows that the age of the respondent is a highly significant variable in explaining attitudes toward Israel, even after accounting for potential political, religious, cultural, and other demographic explanations. 50-64-year-old respondents are most supportive of Israel, even in comparison to the 65 and older respondents, who are also ardent supporters of Israel. Additionally, statistical analysis shows that under-30 respondents are 47% less likely to express strong support for Israel than older respondents. The only age group for which the researchers did not find statistically significant effects is the 30-49-year-old cohort.

“No matter one’s thoughts on the war in Gaza, I think everyone would agree that Jewish college students should not be targeted for antisemitic attacks and hate crimes,” said Dr. Mitch Glaser, CEO of Chosen People Ministries. “We seek to help educate the public about what contributes to this type of egregious behavior and the measures we can take to prevent it in the future.”

The survey was conducted by Motti Inbari, Ph.D., a professor of Jewish studies at the University of North Carolina-Pembroke, and Kirill Bumin, Ph.D., associate dean of Metropolitan College and director of Boston University’s summer term programs.

–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice