Times of Israel: Sanders would beat Trump 65-30% among US Jewish voters, new poll finds

February 28, 2020

By Eric Cortellessa

Democratic presidential frontrunner Bernie Sanders would overwhelmingly outperform US President Donald Trump with US Jewish voters in a head-to-head match-up this fall, according to  new polling  from the non-partisan Jewish Electorate Institute (JEI).

The self-proclaimed democratic socialist would defeat Trump with the demographic group 65% to 30%, despite only 52% of American Jews having a favorable view of Sanders and 45% having an unfavorable view of him, the survey found.

Trump is far more unpopular with the US Jewish community. Sixty-six percent of the poll’s respondents disapprove of the job he’s doing in office.

Indeed, according to JEI, every 2020 Democratic presidential candidate would defeat Trump handily with Jewish voters in a general election. Former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg would win 69% to 31%; Bloomberg 67% to 28%; Biden 67% to 31%; and Warren 65% to 32%.

Sanders, however, leads the pack after winning the New Hampshire primary and Nevada caucuses and claiming the highest number of pledged delegates to date. At the same time, he is surging nationally.

From left, Democratic presidential candidates, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and former Vice President Joe Biden, participate in a Democratic presidential primary debate at the Gaillard Center, Feb. 25, 2020, in Charleston, South Carolina (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

The poll, conducted by Garin-Hart-Yang Research Associates on behalf of JEI, took place from February 18-24. 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.

Only 32% of Jewish voters characterized Israel as “one of the most important” issues to them in the upcoming election. Of far greater concern to the respondents are healthcare, medicare and social security, and gun safety.

US Jewish voters, nevertheless, remain highly supportive of the Jewish state: 91% said they were generally pro-Israel, while 56% identified themselves as “critical” of the Netanyahu government.

The survey also found that the vast majority of American Jews identify as Democrats over Republicans — roughly 62-25%, with the rest having no party affiliation.

“While Jewish voters have differing opinions about the major Democratic candidates, the poll demonstrates that they will overwhelmingly support any of the current Democratic candidates over President Trump at nearly equal levels, and that Israel is not driving the Jewish vote,” said Frederick Yang, one of the pollsters.

While a large majority of US Jewish voters disapprove of Trump’s performance on domestic policy issues — from taxes to healthcare and reproductive rights — a slim majority approves of his management of US-Israel relations.

Fifty-one percent of Jews said they approved of his Israel policies; 39% said they disapproved. A slightly larger majority (52%) said they approved of his decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty of the Golan Heights.

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%).