JTA has followed in the footsteps of the Jerusalem Post misrepresenting the (strange) Gesher study I wrote about yesterday. The poll asked Israelis who they thought the most hated group in Israel was — not which group they hated the most.

But the Post and JTA continue to confuse the two. The JTA item, entitled “Study: Israelis hate the pious most,” begins:

Fervently Orthodox Jews are the most hated group in Israel, a new study found.

The Gesher poll concluded that 37 percent of Israelis think fervently Orthodox Jews are the most disliked, 15 percent said the same of new immigrants from the former Soviet Union and 13 percent named settlers.

Am I the only one who sees a distinction between being “the most hated” and being the group people “think…are the most disliked”? The real story should be why Gesher phrased the question the way they did. Why ask people who they think the most hated group is? Why not just ask people who they most hate? Surely that would be more interesting and more informative.