Well, some points of scientific and data rigor...

1. The definitions provided by Merriam Webster or the UN aren't material here. The definition that matters is the definition defined by the survey to the survey takers...which seems to be missing from your discussion.

2. I'd have to see the questions before we can validate what the survey takers were referring to and to eliminate unintentional bias.

3. "Being Jewish" is both a religion and a heritage. Arguing with Jewish people regarding what "Being Jewish" means is a (at best) bit hubristic and (at worst) actually antisemitic.

So, at best - there's not enough information presented in this article to determine what the survey takers were thinking.

You're putting a LOT of heavy lifting on your rather cherry-picked definitions of "preferential" and "superior" - potentially projecting a lot of meaning that isn't supported by the survey.