Times of Israel: Poll: 73% of American Jews feel ‘less secure’ than 2 years ago

May 22, 2019

By Eric Cortellessa

WASHINGTON — Nearly three-quarters of US Jewish voters think American Jews are “less secure” than they were two years ago, according to a survey released Wednesday by longtime Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg.

In the wake of deadly synagogue shootings in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and in Poway, California, 73 percent of US Jews said they felt less safe, while 60% said they thought US President Donald Trump “bears at least some responsibility” for those attacks. Seventy-one percent said they disapprove of the way Trump has more broadly handled anti-Semitism.

The latest findings come as right-wing extremism and white supremacist ideology in the United States appears to be on the rise, with deadly anti-Semitic incidents at a historic high. The Anti-Defamation League  found  in its most recent audit that there were 1,879 anti-Semitic incidents last year, including 39 reported physical assaults.

The latest poll was commissioned by the  Jewish Electorate Institute , a nonpartisan nonprofit that examines American Jewish voting trends, ahead of the 2020 election.

Based on a sampling of 1,000 Jewish voters, the survey found that the overwhelming majority of US Jews cared more about domestic political and policy concerns than Israel, which JEI said ranked at the bottom of voters’ 16 biggest priorities going into the election.

The issues of most concern to Jewish voters, the poll said, were healthcare, gun safety, and “combating the influence of white supremacists and the far right.”

Trump has made Israel a top foreign policy priority, moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, slashing aid to the Palestinian Authority and closing the Palestine Liberation Organization’s DC offices. His team in charge of trying to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord is expected to release its highly anticipated proposal as soon as next month.

Greenberg Research and JEI conducted the survey online from May 6 to May 12. The poll has a +/-3.2 margin of error.

The survey also found that American Jews overwhelmingly reject the president — 71% said they disapprove of Trump’s overall job performance and 70% view him unfavorably, according to the poll.

Sixty-seven percent of US Jews, a community that has historically been overwhelmingly aligned with the Democratic Party, said that they would vote for a “generic Democrat” over Trump in 2020. Sixty-five percent specifically said they would vote for former US vice president Joe Biden, the current Democratic frontrunner in the primary.

In 2016, Trump’s rival Hillary Clinton won 70% of the Jewish vote, according to  a poll  by GBA Strategies that was commissioned by J Street, a liberal Mideast advocacy group. Trump captured only 5% of the American Jewish electorate’s support.

POLITICO: The DNC is meeting — and Israel is at the forefront once again

April 10, 2026
Democrats’ internal feud over Israel is rearing its head on the party’s biggest stage — again.  Critics of Israel’s military actions and the pro-Israel lobby’s interference in recent Democratic primaries are setting up thorny test votes at the Democratic National Committee’s spring meeting in New Orleans on Thursday, where members will debate resolutions recognizing a Palestinian state, conditioning military aid to Israel and condemning the “growing influence” of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and other dark-money groups.

Survey Shows Most U.S. Jews Are Not Following Pro-Israel Spending In ’26 Primaries And Are Divided On Its Value

April 7, 2026
To: Jewish Electorate Institute From: The Mellman Group Re: Survey Shows Most U.S. Jews Are Not Following Pro-Israel Spending In ’26 Primaries And Are Divided On Its Value Date: April 6, 2026 

U.S. JEWS IDENTIFY AS BOTH PRO-ISRAEL & CRITICAL OF ITS GOV’T

April 7, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MEDIA CONTACT: info@jewishelectorateinstitute.org TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 2026 202-695-0531 U.S. JEWS IDENTIFY AS BOTH PRO-ISRAEL & CRITICAL OF ITS GOV’T Jewish Repub’s, Indi’s Support Pro-Israel Spending in Primaries; Dems Less So AIPAC popular among R’s, not as much among D’s; DMFI better liked by D’s WASHINGTON – As the Democratic National Committee sets to convene in New Orleans this week and consider resolutions on Israel and its AIPAC lobby, a new poll for the Jewish Electorate Institute (JEI) finds the majority of American Jews identifies as both pro-Israel and critical of the Israeli Government. There is limited awareness of the spending by pro-Israel groups in the 2026 primaries, with only one in ten saying they have heard a great deal about it. Attitudes split on partisan lines with majorities of independent and Republican Jews supporting this spending, while a plurality of Democrats is opposed. But still, the majority of Democrats are either not sure or supportive, the poll finds. These are among the top findings of a survey of registered Jews nationally for the JEI by The Mellman Group, several others of which were released last week before Passover. A fuller release of all its findings will come on Friday, after the holiday ends. Further, attitudes about AIPAC and DMFI, the pro-Israel groups spending the most in these primaries, are also split on partisan lines, with AIPAC slightly underwater among Democrats, and popular among Republicans. DMFI is less known but better liked among Democrats. J Street’s numbers are relatively even but measurably smaller. This analysis is based on the findings of a survey of 800 registered Jewish voters nationally. The survey was conducted for JEI by The Mellman Group using a high-quality online national panel from March 13-23, 2026. The margin of error for the sample as a whole is +/-3.5% at the 95% level of confidence (higher for subgroups). Majority of U.S. Jews Identifies as Both Pro-Israel and Critical of Israeli Policies An overwhelming 86% of American Jews describe themselves as generally pro-Israel. However, fewer than one-quarter (23%) say they are both pro-Israel and supportive of Israeli policies. A 63% majority identifies as pro-Israel and critical of the Israeli government policies – split roughly equally between those who are critical of some policies (32%) and those critical of many (31%). Just a combined 14% say they are not generally pro-Israel (9%) or do not hold a view (5%). This trend is not dissimilar to one in the JEI poll that shows Jews are also generally patriotic towards America but also critical of some government policies, numbers for which will be released Friday.  While pro-Israel sentiment extends across party (84% of Democrats, 90% of independents, 94% of Republicans), Democrats are considerably more likely to be critical of Israeli policies (73% critical) than independents (44%) and Republicans (39%).