Israeli Jews think that Judaism is closer to Christianity

In my experience, secular Jews are actually quite quick to point out that Judaism is not nearly as similar to Christianity as might appear to someone who is not from an 'Abrahamic' religion. The usual points of difference such Jews have emphasized include the existence of the Holy Trinity, and the numerous points of continuity with pre-Christian 'pagan' traditions in, for example, Roman Catholicism. But these are secular Jews immersed in a Christian majority culture. Secular Jews in a Jewish majority culture (as in Israel) may, in trying to identify away from Orthodox Judaism, see more in common with secular Christian culture, and thus with Christianity, as they seem to be doing in the survey you cite. A somewhat tangential but interesting fact: the journalist recently murdered in Swat was named Musa Khan Khel. He had two brothers, the elder named Ibrahim, and the younger named Isa - the three are thus named Abraham, Moses and Jesus in Arabic.

While your post is about Jewish views of Islam - for a person like myself born outside both faiths, the overlap in the cultural practices of Islam and Orthodox Judaism is amazing - from the male skull cap to the beard to the emphasis on ritual circumcision, to the way Hebrew, like Arabic is written right to left, to the 'modest dress' requirement for women - Jewish headscarves and such, etc. To me therefore, Islam and (Orthodox) Judaism do not appear too different at all.

Secular Jews in a Jewish majority culture (as in Israel) may, in trying to identify away from Orthodox Judaism

yeah, i think this is on point. i assume most secular israelis have gone to christian majority countries, but in israel the dominant religious movements which they would encounter are islam & religious/orthodox judaism, not christianity. in fact, secular jews in israel probably have a lot more in common with in many ways with secular christians in western europe, then they do with religious jews, christians and muslims.

Politics weighs heavily on this. During the Spanish Reconquest and the Crusades, Jews allied primarily or entirely with Muslims. During the Ottoman period, many Jews were closer to Islam (the Ottomans tended toward tolerance, and probably treated Jews better than Christians). Before 1800 Jews everywhere in Christendom were distinct outsiders, in a pretty pejorative sense. Only in the last two centuries has full acceptance even been imaginable.

(Stereotyping warning). I love hearing Chinese talk about non-Chinese (especially Western) religions, because they don't care, they think they're all sort of funny, and they can't tell one from another. Confucianism is like a generalized, somewhat demystified development of Polynesian or African clan rituals. "Ancestor worship" is far older than any scriptural or universalist religion.

"I am willing to hazard that religious Jews are more likely to agree that Islam is closer than secular Jews. I say this because a bit more than half of Jews in Israel are secular, last I checked, so if they are much more likely to aver an affinity to Christianity that would explain the plural majority."

You're intuitions are correct, and the math is probably correct. The actual reason behind this is pretty easy to discern though.

Observant Judaism has a long history of attempting to separate the Old Testament from the New. This is not the situation with Islam. It is generally accepted amongst Observant Jews and Muslims that Abraham (through Ishmael) was the father of Islam. So there is a substantial Torah connection between the faiths. This on top of most observant Jews considering Christianity idol worship, while holding Islam as a monotheistic faith.

Given the high levels of segregation in Israel, how much of a familiarity would we expect a secular Jew from Tel-Aviv to have with Islam or Muslims. From TV, sure, but that's also where he or she learns about Christianity. What sort of interaction is necessary to become familair with another religion -- your gardner? Your boss? Your neighbour? You son-in-law? Your favorite movie star?

I say this becuase I know that some Muslims in India, particularly among older generations, have a poor understanding of Hinduism, despite living in a majority Hindu country.

The real kicker for most religious Jews regarding Christianity is the notion of a human being divine. From a halachic perspective that puts it pretty clearly in the idol worship category.

I am however surprised by the 75% number for purchasing new churches. I would have expected less than that.

Mildly related anecdote:
When I was an undergrad I was involved in a joint Jewish-Muslim interfaith dialogue group. A surprising number of discussion we had at some point had a conclusion of something like "we disagree on a lot, but we agree that both Judaism and Islam make more sense than Christianity."

First of all, consider one of the named sources: http://www.jcjcr.org/

I can't find the actual survey online, so who knows what the actual questions were, or what they chose to release if they were pushing a particular POV? I'm not saying the study is bogus, but I'm not saying it isn't.

Second, a few ways in which Christianity is more similar to Judaism than Islam is: Christianity is a heretical branch of Judaism, which was rejected by Jews, but was at least founded by Jews, while Islam was founded an Arab with little or no direct connection to Judaism. Also, Christianity contains portions of Jewish scripture, while Islam retcons it. IIRC, the Qu'ran says that Ishmael, not Isaac, was the sacrificial son, and it got rid of some of the fun stuff like Lot offering his daughters to Sodomite gang-rapists, presumably in order to get a PG-13 rating.

I think you could reasonably claim any of the three religions as the odd man out, so it's not surprising that Jews would perceive the religion whose adherents they have a current conflict with as such.

I used every search term I could think of, and couldn't find it.

I am however surprised by the 75% number for purchasing new churches. I would have expected less than that.

It might help to know that Jerusalem is full of very visible churches, much more than synagogues, which tend to be small and modest.

I think, by far, the main reason for identifying Judaism with Christianity is that Israelis think that they are part of the western world. They visit Europe, and it seems not so different from Israel - Muslim countries, on the other hand, seem very different (except, maybe, Turkey). Religious Jews are more likely to think about theology, and answer according to that.

The Mormons are to Christianity as Christianity is to Judaism. They have an additional revelation.

@justme "and the numerous points of continuity with pre-Christian 'pagan' traditions in, for example, Roman Catholicism. "

Wow, we have a huge number of points of continuity with
pre-Jewish 'pagan' traditions ourselves! Judaism is entirely an amalgam based on our experiences of history travel in wide areas of the middle east and beyond. It is derivative at its core.

*David Boxenhor: It might help to know that Jerusalem is full of very visible churches, much more than synagogues, which tend to be small and modest.

It doesn't help to know that at all when it comes to people thinking the institutions by another faith should not be built.

"Yes there are a lot of synagogues in my neighborhood, the government should for bid the Jews from building any more."

The Mormons are to Christianity as Christianity is to Judaism. They have an additional revelation.

And according to some, Islam is to Christianity as Mormonism is to Christianity.

http://www.trosch.org/bks/mohammed.html

"Yes there are a lot of synagogues in my neighborhood, the government should for bid the Jews from building any more."

All of those very visible churches are built by non-local people, and their governments.

...may I suggest a little humility when you don't know what you're talking about?

(Stereotyping warning). I love hearing Westerner talk about Chinese religions (Daoism/Confucianism) , because they don't care, they think they're all sort of funny, and they can't tell one from another.
Judsism is like a generalized, somewhat mystified development of Polynesian or African clan rituals. These so called "chosen" people made up stories about their manifest destiny is by far the oldest propaganda known in human history.