American Jews are slipping away
Last week, the Washington Post published the results of a survey of American Jews conducted September 2-9 and timed for release just ahead of the second anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 attack. In the new poll, nearly four-in-ten respondents (39%) say they believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. More than six-in-ten respondents say they believe Israel is committing other (presumably lesser) war crimes.
The Washington Post survey is the first comprehensive and methodologically rigorous appraisal of American Jewish opinion about the Gaza war since Pew published a study in April 2024. The new poll was done by a leading academic research outfit, SSRI, using a national panel recruited through address-based sampling. The Jews were identified through the same kinds of screening questions used in the Pew surveys, and included Jews by religion and Jews who identify by ethnicity, culture, and family background. In short, it is a gold-standard survey.
The other polls of American Jews that have been published over the last 18 months have been based on inexpensive opt-in samples that tend to attract more religious and politically conservative respondents. The Jewish communal organizations that often sponsor high-quality surveys about attitudes toward Israel have chosen not to do so since the start of the war. The Washington Post survey is therefore especially valuable.
Alongside the headline-grabbing finding about the genocide claim, the poll reports that more American Jews now disapprove of Israel’s military actions in Gaza (48%) than approve (46%). By way of comparison, in Pew’s 2024 survey, 33% of Jewish Americans described Israel’s conduct in the war as “unacceptable.”
In the Washington Post poll, more than two-thirds of respondents expressed a negative view of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership, up from 54% in a Pew 2020 survey.
In the new poll, a majority of respondents (59%) said that Israel is not doing enough to ensure that food aid gets to the people of Gaza. Very large majorities (above 80%) expressed concern for Israeli hostages and soldiers, and about the threat Hamas still poses to Israel. A similar large majority expressed concern about civilian deaths in Gaza.
The rising criticism over Israel’s conduct of the war is apparently affecting broader feelings about the Jewish state. The Washington Post survey reports that 56% of respondents feel very or somewhat emotionally attached to Israel, which is low by historical standards. Among respondents ages 18-34, just 36% feel emotionally attached. (By comparison, in the landmark Pew 2020 survey, 48% of respondents ages 18-29 were emotionally attached.)
Israel’s actions in Gaza also appear to be fueling a reconsideration among some American Jews regarding US military aid for Israel. In the Washington Post survey, 59% support continuing US military aid, down from the 74% that supported such aid in the Pew 2024 survey.
Compared to other Americans, American Jews are still among Israel’s most stalwart supporters. The erosion in Israel’s standing has swept most demographic categories, including Democratic voters, young adults and younger Republicans. Among Jews, however, the changes are more recent, and it’s hard to think of a precedent.
What is driving the alienation of so many American Jews? Over the summer, I interviewed about a dozen Jewish communal leaders about how the war is shaping the views of their constituents. Several reported that opinions among members of their community shifted over the spring and summer, largely as a result of Israel’s decision to block the delivery of humanitarian aid, and after seeing and reading about the shooting of large numbers of Gazans around the aid distribution centers.
The communal leaders I interviewed also attributed the shift to the failure of the Israeli government to communicate a plan for the future of Gaza and noted that the vacuum was filled by far-right ministers calling for Gaza to be turned to rubble, no food to be allowed in, Palestinians encouraged to leave, and the territory resettled by Jews. Rarely refuted by Netanyahu, these declarations seemed to many to be statements of government policy.
Last week, speaking at the White House press conference alongside Trump, Netanyahu said of the President’s 20-point program: “Everybody asks, what is your plan for the day after Hamas? Here’s our plan!” The deal, of course, calls explicitly for Palestinians to remain in Gaza, food aid to be flooded in, Gaza to be rebuilt, and a Palestinian technocratic government to be established. One cannot help but regret Netanyahu’s failure to clearly and repeatedly articulate these aspects of the “day after” plan a long time ago.
In the case of American Jews, the damage the war has done to perceptions of Israel is probably reversible, at least in part. In the Washington Post survey, more than three-quarters of respondents said that Israel’s existence is vital for the long-term future of the Jewish people. American Jews know that Israel must remain, and they will be a part of its story.
When the war finally ends, and Israel sets about restoring its standing in the world, the program of outreach must include American Jews. They are a community whose support Israel needs, and whose confidence Israel must now seek to bolster.