Biden will lose support from US Jews in November election, poll shows

A “shocking” percentage of American Jews are considering moving to another country due to rising anti-Semitism. AJC public opinion polling shows that nearly a quarter of young Jewish Americans feel “much less connected” to Israel since October 7.

A majority of Jewish Americans plan to vote for Joe Biden next November, but not as high a percentage as in the previous election, according to a poll published Monday by the American Jewish Committee.

The 2024 Jewish Opinion Poll also found that 7 percent of Jewish Americans – a number described by the hiring organization as “shocking” – have considered moving to another country since October 7 due to rising anti-Semitism in the United States. .

A significant share of Jewish-Americans, according to the survey, feel more connected to both Israel and their Jewish identity since the Hamas attack. Among the younger generation, however, that is not the case: the percentage of Jewish-Americans ages 18 to 29 who feel “much less connected to Israel” since October 7 far exceeds the percentage who they feel “much more connected”.

If the presidential election were held today, the poll found that 61% of Jewish Americans would vote for Biden and 23% for Donald Trump. Another 10% said they would vote for another candidate and 6% said they would not vote at all.

In the 2020 election, according to a report published by the Pew Research Center, 70% of American Jews voted for Biden, while 27% voted for Trump.

However, among respondents in the current AJC survey, only 64 percent reported having voted for the Democratic candidate in the last election, which represents a smaller differential. And among those who said they voted for Biden in the last election, 90% said they would vote for him again. Among those who said they voted for Trump in the last election, 85% said they would vote for him again.

The poll shows that Jewish Americans believe Biden is better equipped than Trump to maintain strong ties with Israel and combat anti-Semitism. Asked which of the two candidates would be better for the US-Israel relationship, 49 percent chose Biden, as opposed to 25 percent who chose Trump.

More than half — 55 percent — said the Democratic candidate would also do a better job combating Jew-hatred, compared with 20 percent who thought the Republican candidate would.

Among those surveyed, 56 percent said they thought Biden was doing a good job as president, although only 48 percent approved of his handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

The findings are based on interviews conducted online by the research firm SSRS between March 12 and April 6, with a representative sample of 1,001 Jewish-Americans. It is the seventh in a series of public opinion polls the AJC has commissioned since 2016, the most recent conducted in 2021. The AJC does not support or endorse candidates for elected office.

The following are some of the key findings from their latest research:

• Jews in the United States agree, almost unanimously, that anti-Semitism in the United States is a problem and on the rise. More than half (56 percent) describe it as a “serious” problem and another 37 percent as a problem. More than half (55 percent) say it has increased “a lot” since October 7, while another third say it has increased “a little”.
• Due to the rise in anti-Semitism, 7% of Jewish-Americans say they are considering moving to another country. Translated into absolute numbers, this equates to almost half a million Jews. “I found this number incredibly high, even shockingly high, considering the history of Jewish love for America,” said Laura Shaw Frank, director of the AJC’s department of contemporary Jewish life, at a press conference before the survey results were published.
• Among Jewish-Americans described as highly educated about Israel, the percentage considering relocation is double. The AJC did not ask survey participants where they would consider moving, but according to Frank, “The fact that people with a high level of education in Israel are more likely to consider leaving leads us to believe that these are likely people who are thinking about going to Israel. ” She said this specific question had not been asked in previous AJC public opinion polls.
• The number of Jewish-Americans who feel more attached to Israel since October 7 far exceeds the number who feel less attached. Twenty-one percent of Jewish-Americans say they feel “much more connected” to Israel since that day, while another 24% say they feel “somewhat more connected.” In contrast, just 9% say they feel “much less connected” to Israel, while another 10% say they feel “somewhat less connected.”
• The findings confirm the growing generational divide among Jewish-Americans on the issue of Israel. Among young people aged 18 to 29, only 10 percent say they feel “much more connected” to Israel since October 7, while 22 percent say they feel “a little more connected”. In contrast, almost a quarter (24%) say they feel “much less connected” to Israel, while 9% say they feel “somewhat less connected”. In other words, among young Jewish Americans, there are more people who feel less connected to Israel than more connected.
• In contrast, among Jewish-Americans ages 30 and older, 23 percent say they feel “much more connected” to Israel since October 7, while another 24 percent say they feel “somewhat more connected.” Just 6% say they feel “much less connected,” while another 11% say they feel “somewhat less connected.”
• The number of Jews who feel more connected to their Jewish identity since October 7 far exceeds the number of those who feel less connected. One in five Jewish Americans say they feel “much more connected” to their Jewish identity since that day, while another 27 percent say they feel “a little more connected.” In contrast, just 2 percent say they feel “much less connected” to their Jewish identity, while the same percentage say they feel “somewhat less connected.”
• Here, once again, a generational divide is evident, but not to the same extent as on the issue of Israel. In fact, more 18- to 29-year-olds (39 percent) say they feel more connected to their Jewish identity since October 7 than those who say they feel less connected (11 percent).
• An overwhelming majority of Jewish Americans – 85 percent – ​​believe that U.S. support for Israel is important in the wake of October 7th, with 60 percent considering it “very important.”
• More than half of respondents (53 percent) say that talk about the Israel-Hamas war has affected their personal or professional relationships, 13 percent say they have lost friends as a result, and more than a quarter say they have hidden their Jewish identity . or chose not to disclose it when meeting new people.

Via Harretz