(RNS)Because America is such a self-absorbed society, we are always attracted to surveys about our opinions and beliefs on just about everything, like moths flocking to flames.

Sure, I know the usual disclaimer: polls are merely blurred snapshots of a constantly shifting population. But snapshots, whether taken of a family or a religious community, frequently reveal both change and continuity.

That’s why I am fascinated by the recently released American Jewish Committee annual survey of American Jews. The 800 hundred respondents interviewed in September are representative of the entire community in a variety of ways. Because the survey was carefully structured, the findings are not a fuzzy snapshot, but rather a recognizable portrait of an important segment of the U.S. population.

Seventy-eight percent of American Jews voted for Barack Obama in 2008 — the only predominantly white group to give more than 50 percent of its votes to the Democrat. This year, half said they are opposed to the president’s call for a total cessation of new Israeli settlement building.

But there are sharp differences among the three major Jewish religious movements about president Obama’s call for a settlement freeze. Almost three in four Orthodox Jews, 62 percent of Conservative Jews, and only 46 percent of Reform Jews, oppose the president’s proposal.

Jews remain eager for an authentic peace between Israel and the Palestinians. But American Jews of all ages are skeptical of that happening, even as they favor a two-state solution to the long and bitter struggle.

More than nine in 10 Jews say Palestinians must accept Israel as a Jewish state in any final peace agreement, according to the survey, and almost 60 percent say Jerusalem must continue to be united under Israeli administration.

Three of every four American Jews are convinced the ultimate goal of the Arabs is “not the return of occupied territories but rather the destruction of Israel.” This high level of distrust has been a constant in AJC polling, and is not likely change until and unless the Arab states, the Palestinian factions, Hezbollah, and other Middle East leaders halt their anti-Israel rhetoric and actions.

More than 50 percent of American Jews, one of the most secure communities in the long history of the Jewish people, remain convinced that anti-Semitism around the world is a serious problem and nearly half believe hatred of Jews and Judaism will increase, not decrease, in the immediate future.

The most striking difference between this year’s poll and the one conducted last year can be summed up in four letters: Iran. In the 2008 AJC survey, 42 percent of Jews favored a U.S. military strike against Iran to block that nation from acquiring nuclear weapons; Forty-seven percent opposed such action.

In 2009, 56 percent of the American Jews favor the use of military force against Iran, while 36 percent oppose. These numbers are similar to the views of the general American population: 61 say it’s critical to stop Iran, even if it takes military action.

While statistics and polling can be read in a myriad of ways, a few things are clear. American Jews are deeply concerned and inextricably linked to the security and survival of Israel. They are wary of Obama’s initial steps in advancing the peace process, but are not wild-eyed zealots or extremists. Meaningful accommodation and compromises are possible, but only if they lead to genuine peace.

And all eyes are now on Iran.

(Rabbi Rudin, the American Jewish Committee’s senior interreligious adviser, is the author of “The Baptizing of America: The Religious Right’s Plans for the Rest of Us.”)