JTA: New survey indicates Jewish Americans will vote for any Democrat — including Sanders — over Trump

February 28, 2020

JTA – No matter who is running on the Democratic presidential ticket in 2020, he or she is likely to get the Jewish vote by a wide margin, according to a new survey.

The survey, released Friday by the Jewish Electoral Institute, found that two-thirds of Jewish voters said they would choose any Democratic candidate over President Donald Trump.

The survey was conducted Feb. 18 to 24, a period that included Sanders’ announcement that he would not attend AIPAC’s annual conference next week. After the announcement,  some pundits suggested  that nominating Sanders would result in Jews preferring the Republican candidate for the first time in contemporary American history. (Four years ago, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton received  70% of the Jewish vote. )

But the survey found that even though Jewish voters view Sanders more unfavorably than they his Democratic rivals, they disapprove of Trump far more. While 45% of Jewish voters said they had an unfavorable view of Sanders, who has tied or won the Democratic primary’s first three nominating contests, 61% said they strongly disapprove of Trump (down from a high of 71% in the survey group’s 2018 survey) and 65% would vote for him over the president in an election.

A majority of respondents said they believe “President Trump at least is partially responsible for the targeted attacks on synagogues in recent years,” and 45% said they believed Trump was emboldening far-right extremists and white nationalists, up from 38% a year ago.

The survey found that a majority of respondents — 66% of whom identified as Democrats and 26% as Republicans — favored Trump’s positions on a handful of Israel issues, including his overall performance on “U.S.-Israel relations.” But while 91% of respondents said they are “generally pro-Israel,” only 32% indicated that Israel is one of their most important voting issues. 

The online survey of 1,001 self-identified Jewish voters who indicate that they are likely to vote in the November election has a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points. 

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%).