WASHINGTON — A survey of US Jewish voters taken after the Israel-Gaza conflict finds that a sizable minority believe some of the harshest criticisms of Israel, including that it is committing genocide and apartheid.
An Israel-critical protest outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC on May 18, 2021. (Alex Wong/Getty)
Among respondents to the survey commissioned by the Jewish Electorate Institute, a group led by prominent Jewish Democrats, 34% agreed that “Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is similar to racism in the US,” 25% agreed that “Israel is an apartheid state” and 22% agreed that “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians.”
Among younger voters included in the survey released July 13, agreement with those statements was higher, though still in the minority.
The poll found that 9% of voters agreed with the statement, “Israel doesn’t have a right to exist.” But among voters under 40, that proportion was 20%.
A third of younger voters agreed that Israel is committing genocide; more than a third agreed that Israel is an apartheid state.
Pro-Israel organizations struggle to make the case that Israel is central to Jewish identity and that criticism of it often veers into anti-Semitism.
The survey of American Jewish political sentiment was wide-ranging, finding wide approval for President Joe Biden and deep concern about Republican efforts in Georgia and Florida to tighten access to the ballot booth.
The survey of 800 voters, conducted by GBAO Strategies from June 28 to July 1 online and via texts, has an overall margin of error of 3.5 percentage points; the replies of those under 40 have a margin of error of 6 percentage points. (The margin of error for the Orthodox subgroup was 11.6 percentage points.)
While the proportion of respondents agreeing with critical statements about Israel was higher than many pro-Israel advocates have characterized, at least one finding is in line with that of another recent survey.
Asked if they felt emotionally attached to Israel, 62% of respondents to the Jewish Electorate Institute survey said they did and 38% said they did not, numbers that matched those in the Pew study of 4,700 American Jews released in May.
The new survey presents the latest challenge as the new Israeli government endeavors to repair ties with a US Jewish community that to a degree became alienated from Israel during the 12 years Benjamin Netanyahu was prime minister.
Surveys have found that Israeli and American Jews know little about one another.
One statement in the survey, echoing a claim by former President Donald Trump, that “Jews who vote Democratic are disloyal to Israel” was also put forward to respondents to assess whether it is anti-Semitic; mainstream Jewish organizations have suggested that it is. However, while a vast majority of respondents, 77%, disagreed with the statement, only 26% said they believed it is anti-Semitic.
Asked about the two-state solution, 61% of survey respondents said it was their preferred outcome.
But 19% said they preferred annexation of the West Bank that would deny Palestinians the right to vote in national elections, while 20% said they preferred “establishing one state that is neither Jewish nor Palestinian” and encompassing Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.
While a substantial majority of survey respondents, 71%, said it was “important” to provide financial assistance to Israel, a smaller majority, 58%, said it would be appropriate to restrict aid to Israel so it could not spend US money on settlements. A majority, 62%, support Biden’s reversal of Trump’s policy of cutting off aid to the Palestinians.
The Democratic lawmakers who lashed out at Israel during the conflict, including Reps. Cori Bush, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, have also raised the prospect of cutting aid to Israel.
In the poll, Biden earned 80% job approval, and 74% approval on how he is “handling relations with Israel.”
He got 62% approval ratings for how he handled the recent Israel-Gaza conflict.
Among the Orthodox, who largely voted Republican in the 2020 presidential election, Biden had 31% approval overall, but notably a higher number — 44% — for how he handles Israel relations. He earned 37% approval among the Orthodox for how he handled the recent conflict.
Asked whether they would prefer a Democrat to a Republican in a vote for Congress in next year’s midterm elections, 68% favored a generic Democrat and 21% favored a Republican.
Democratic leaders Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer got 54% and 52% favorability ratings respectively. Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell each got 10%.
On domestic issues, respondents placed high climate change, voting rights, jobs, and the economy, and the coronavirus pandemic.
Some 76% of respondents backed federal legislation backed by Democrats that would block the state efforts to restrict voting rights, and 62% supported eliminating the Senate filibuster to allow the Democratic majority to pass legislation.
Concern about anti-Semitism in the US was high, at 90%, and more voters, 61%, believed the threat came from the right than they did from the left, 22%.
Voters who felt the threat was equal from both sides came in at 12%.
Among the Orthodox, 69% said the threat came from the left, 10% from the right, and 18% from both sides.
