The true answer is much simpler: Jews as an ethnic group are not Jews as a philosophic or religious group. Jews as an ethnic group have been largely secular for generations. They are highly educated with above-average income and live in major urban areas. Other than their ethnicity, there is precisely zero reason such a descriptor would fit a large mass of conservatives.

The vast bulk of American Jews are not Jewish in any real sense. Only 41 percent of Jews say their religion is important in daily life, according to a 2012 Gallup poll. Just about one in three go to religious services even once per month; the other two thirds go seldom or never. More than one in five Jews say they have no religion at all. Similarly, a Pew poll from October 2013 shows that only 38 percent of American Jews say their Jewish identity has anything to do with Judaism. Only 10 percent of Jews self-identify as Orthodox, people who say they fulfill the commandments of the Torah.

But what about Israel? The impression in the media seems to be that Jews across the religious spectrum care about Israel. That’s false. More Jews care about abortion than Israel, by a long shot. A July 2013 Pew Forum study found that 89 percent of Jews say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.