Forcing Gimp to behave better with + and - zoom keys?

[Asterra]

In a nutshell: My #1 source of irritation right now when it comes to navigating Gimp is the fact that I have to make the edit window active whenever I want + and - to zoom in/out.  Beyond being a redundant gesture (mouseover should 100% suffice), it's typically a legitimate problem, as I lose keyboard focus on whatever else I happen to be trying to do at the time—effects, punching in values for the selection, picking colors, etc.  And if my selected tool isn't benign, I'll end up making an edit which I must then undo.

Is there a way to either force Gimp to obey mouseovers, or cause - and + to reliably zoom at all times?