According to the 2010 Census there were 1,628 Jews living there, making up 1.0% of the population. But there are many thousands more who are having partial Jewish ancestry, but registered as Russians.
Right now, Jews hold a lot of privileges in EAO. For example, Yiddish is one of the recognized languages. All these will be lost of the autonomy is terminated.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2010/0607/Why-some-Jews-would-rather-live-in-Siberia-than-Israel