Jewish Americans have long represented a faithful Democratic voting bloc, and the progressive wing’s unabashed antagonism toward Israel hasn’t changed that.
A Pew Research poll on the preferences of U.S. religious voters released this week found that 65% of Jewish respondents plan to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, while 34% back former President Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 presidential election.
The survey of 9,720 U.S. registered voters released this week found the candidates tied overall at 49% each.
The continued strong support for Ms. Harris comes despite the rise of antisemitic activism on the left following the brutal Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israeli civilians, as well as questions about where her sympathies lie in the Gaza war.
During the Tuesday presidential debate, she reiterated her call for a cease-fire-for-hostages deal and a two-state solution, saying that “Israel has a right to defend itself” and that “far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed” in the Israeli military offensive aimed at destroying Hamas in Gaza.
“I have [spent] my entire career and life supporting Israel and the Israeli people,” Ms. Harris said.
Her response failed to assuage the concerns of the Republican Jewish Coalition, which posted on X: “Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have undermined the US-Israel relationship to unprecedented lows.”
“Forcing a two-state solution on Israel now — after October 7 — would be a reward for the terrorists,” the RJC, which is running an ad criticizing Ms. Harris’s record on Israel, wrote. “She would be a total disaster as Commander in Chief.”
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Ms. Harris was a no-show at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s congressional address in July, opting instead to attend a meeting of a Black college sorority. She later met privately with the conservative Israeli leader.
Last month, she selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, igniting speculation that she feared the Jewish, pro-Israel governor would alienate Muslim voters in swing-state Michigan.
“She hates Israel,” Mr. Trump, the Republican nominee, declared at their debate Tuesday in Philadelphia.
Cornell Law School professor William Jacobson said that “you need a psychiatrist” to explain the ongoing Jewish support for Democratic candidates.
“There is a willing disregard by American Jews for the reality that the progressive left has teamed up with Islamists to create an intensely hostile environment in the U.S. and for Israel,” Mr. Jacobson told The Washington Times. “American Jews are voting against their own self-interest in order to stay in the progressive club. You don’t need a political scientist to explain it, you need a psychiatrist.”
He noted that the latest poll represents a decline in Jewish support for Democrats from 2020, when 77% of Jewish voters backed Democratic presidential candidate Joseph R. Biden over Mr. Trump, according to an exit poll by the left-wing group J Street.
“In 2020, Joe Biden received 77% of the Jewish vote, so the current Pew polling represents a 12% drop in support for Harris, which is significant,” said Mr. Jacobson, who runs the conservative Legal Insurrection blog. “Nonetheless, that almost 2 in 3 Jews support Democrats is a testament to the psychological grip Democrats have.”
On the other hand, Mr. Trump’s heavy-handed messaging, such as “if they [Democrats] win, Israel is gone,” may be off-putting to Jewish voters, said the Jerusalem Post in a Wednesday editorial.
“American Jews have different, perhaps sharper, concerns this election round. And there may be people on the fence who Trump could sway to gain support,” reads the editorial. “But what he has been doing — shaming Jews for voting Democrat and painting himself as the sole savior for the Middle East — clearly isn’t getting him what he wants. He’s going to have to do something different.”
The Jewish Democratic Council of America said after the debate that Jewish voters “reject Trump’s antics and vitriol,” while Ms. Harris “stands with the vast majority of Jewish Americans when it comes to defending our democracy, ensuring abortion access, combating antisemitism, and standing with Israel.”
Both candidates have family ties to Judaism. Ms. Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, is Jewish; Mr. Trump’s daughter Ivanka converted to Judaism before her marriage to Jared Kushner. The Kushners have three children, and Mr. Trump has spoken fondly of his Jewish grandchildren.
The Pew Research poll also showed that White evangelicals, non-evangelical Protestants and Catholics continue to back Mr. Trump, while Black Protestants, Hispanic Catholics, atheists and agnostics favor Ms. Harris.
“U.S. religious groups that traditionally have leaned Republican are backing former President Donald Trump by wide margins, while religious groups that traditionally have favored Democratic candidates are mostly supporting Vice President Kamala Harris,” said the polling analysis.
The survey, conducted Aug. 26-Sept. 2, has a margin of error for the full sample of plus or minus 1.3 percentage points.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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