Australian Jews in the Shadow of War (AJSW)

About the project

Australian Jews in the shadow of war (AJSW) is a survey that was conducted by the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation (ACJC) at Monash University, Melbourne in conjunction with the Jewish Communal Appeal (JCA) in Sydney, Australia. This study was funded by JCA and the Loti and Victor Smorgon Family Foundation, in partnership with Australian Jewish Funders. The study employed post-hoc population weights developed out of an analysis of the 2021 Australian Census and a separate Jewish congregational census, to make the data more representative of Australia’s Jewish population.

The tumultuous events which occurred in Israel on 7 October 2023 and the subsequent war between Israel and Hamas—which was still in its early stages as the survey was being conducted—had ramifications not only for the warring parties but also for Jews around the world. We were primarily motivated to provide an empirical basis of understanding about the emotional impact of these events on Australian Jews. The main areas of interest were the views of Australian Jews about the Israel-Hamas war itself, their attitudes towards Israel and their personal connections to the Jewish State, and their perceptions and experiences of antisemitism in the wake of this war.

In doing so, we sought to take a balanced and scientifically rigorous approach to this work whilst acknowledging first, that this was a survey of Jewish people and not of others who may have been affected by the war; and second, that there are a multitude of perspectives on the Middle East conflict within the Jewish community and there is always a risk that bias may be perceived, regardless of these efforts.

Specifically, the study sought to:

• Understand the attitudes of Australian Jewish people towards—and experience of living during—the Israel-Hamas war, including opinions about the actions of Israel and Hamas; media and social media access; confidence in their familiarity with the situation in Israel; feelings and actions in response to the war; philanthropic activity; reactions to responses by non-Australian Jews in their lives.
• Examine the nature of Australian Jews’ Israel attachment, including their familial and social connections in Israel, and their visits to Israel.
• Capture perceptions of and experiences with antisemitism.
• Detail Australian Jews’ views about how Australian political leadership has performed in response to the events in Israel and Australia.
• Explore effects on Australian Jews’ mental health.
• Contextualise current attitudes by comparing responses at this moment, with responses gathered in 2017 during a ‘normal’ period.
• The survey was conducted in the early days of the war between the 10th and 17th of November 2023, closing on the 41st day of the conflict. The final dataset contained complete responses from 7,611 self-identifying Australian Jews aged 18 and above from across Australia.

Research Team

Dr. Adina Bankier-Karp is a research affiliate at the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation, Monash University, and associate editor of the journal Contemporary Jewry. She has written for academic and general audiences on topics including Jewish identity formation, Australian Jewry, Jewish education and the intersection of religion and wellbeing. Her most recent publications have examined Jewish identity resilience and the relevance of Jewish denominations to understanding Jewish values and engagement. Adina holds a PhD in Education from Monash University.

Dr David Graham is a demographic and social research consultant based in Sydney. He is an Honorary Associate at the Department of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies, University of Sydney and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) in the UK. And Honorary Research Associate at the University of Cape Town. A geographer by training and expert in the study of Australian Jews in the UK, Australia and South Africa, his skills encompass statistical analysis, survey design, census analysis and geographic information system mapping. He has published widely for academic and general interest audiences and holds a DPhil from the University of Oxford.

Australian Jews in the Shadow of War: Main Survey Findings LINK HERE