(JTA) — Nearly half of Israelis surveyed said Israel’s Chief Rabbinate should officially recognize Reform and Conservative Judaism.

In the survey of 500 adults, 49 percent “strongly feel that the Chief Rabbinate should officially recognize the Reform and Conservative streams of Judaism,” Walla.com reported, because this “will in turn strengthen the connection with American Jews.”

The poll, published Thursday, was commissioned by the Ruderman Family Foundation and conducted by Teleseker polling. It focused on how Israelis perceive the relationship between their countrymen and state institutions and U.S. Jews.

Asked about whether the views of American Jews on the peace process should be taken into account, 30 percent of respondents said “to some extent,” 22 percent said “to a great extent” and 18 percent said “not at all.”

Thirty-one percent of respondents said that Diaspora Jews should not be represented in the Knesset while 29 percent said Diaspora Jews should be represented “to some extent.”

The survey was conducted ahead of a trip to New York and Boston that the Ruderman Foundation is organizing for five Knesset members to learn more about U.S. Jewry.

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