Many Young Israel Advocates identify as politically liberal.

Putting to rest once and for all that support for Israel is the realm of the neo-con, a new survey shows tremendous diversity  among young pro-Israel activists, with  45% self identifying as liberal.

 “Next Generation Advocacy: A Study of Young Israel Advocates,” was released this week by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation. The study was conducted by Ezra Kopelowitz and Daniel Chesir-Teran of Research Success Technologies.

Young pro Israel advocates truly reflect the diversity of the Jewish community, reflecting both religious and ideological diversity.

From JTA:

Of the 4,000 or so Israel advocates age 30 and younger who were surveyed, 87 percent said they welcomed “multiple perspectives” on the pro-Israel spectrum. Ideologically speaking, 45 percent self-identified as either politically liberal or slightly liberal; 30 percent said they were conservative or slightly conservative; and 21 percent called themselves moderate. Four percent said they were extremely conservative and 2 percent said they were extremely liberal.The respondents came from diverse religious backgrounds, too: 37 percent said they were Conservative Jews, 27 percent Orthodox, 18 percent Reform and 16 percent “other Jewish.”

The survey also shows the tremendous potential of this group. Lisa Eisen, the director of the Schusterman Foundation  reports “The motivation is there, the passion is there, the interest is there,... “We just haven’t fully tapped the potential.”    While 85 percent of high school seniors and 66 percent of college seniors said they wanted to continue pro-Israel work after graduation, only 27 percent and 33 percent, respectively, reported being asked to do so by a Jewish organization.