Ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election, some 75% of US Jews would vote for Democratic nominee Joe Biden, while 22% would vote to re-elect US President Donald Trump, according to a poll released on Monday by the American Jewish Committee.
In 2016, 71% of American Jews voted for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, while 24% voted for Trump.
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In the AJC survey, American Jews were asked about the most important issue in deciding how to vote, which candidate would do a better job on key issues facing the US, as well as questions regarding US-Israel relations and prospects for peace between Israel and the Arab world, and between Israel and the Palestinians.
As in prior years, a pronounced division of opinion exists according to Jewish religious affiliation and political party connection. Asked about party affiliation, 53% identified as Democrats, 14 % as Republicans and 25% as Independents.
Trump is preferred by 74% of Orthodox, 23% of Conservative, 20% of Reform, 3% of Reconstructionist and 14% of secular Jews.
Biden is the choice of 18% of Orthodox, 72% of Conservative, 78% of Reform, 93% of Reconstructionist and 83% of Secular Jews.
His share of the Jewish vote mirrors the degree of dissatisfaction the survey uncovered about Trump's performance in office, as 77% of the respondents disapproved of the job the president is doing, 73% "strongly," as compared to 22% who approved and 15% "strongly."
The difference between Orthodox and other affiliated Jews in viewing how well the president is doing his job is clear in which 75% of Orthodox, 24% of Conservative, 20% of Reform, 4% of Reconstructionist and 15% of secular Jews approve of Trump's performance. Those who disapprove are 25% of Orthodox, 76% of Conservative, 80% of Reform, 96% of Reconstructionist and 85% of secular Jews.
For American Jewish voters, the most important issue in deciding who to vote for is the coronavirus pandemic (26%), then health care (17%), the economy (13%), race relations (12%), crime (6%), foreign policy (5%) or another issue (20%).
Health care was chosen as the second most important issue by 20%, followed by the coronavirus (18%), race relations (17%), economy (16%), foreign policy (11%), crime (5%) or some other issue (12%).
By wide margins, American Jews believe that, if elected president, Biden would handle several key issues facing America today better than Trump, including the coronavirus pandemic (78% versus. 19%), combating terrorism (71% vs. 26%) and anti-Semitism in the United States (75% vs. 22%). The difference was narrower in those who believe that Biden would be better suited to strengthen US-Israel relations (54% vs. 42%).
On the US-Israel relationship, 86% of respondents characterize it as strong, with 33% who say very strong, and 12% who responded weak. Republicans (68 %) are more likely than independents (35%) or Democrats (22%) to say US-Israel relations are very strong.
Recent efforts to establish relations between Israel and Arab countries – as was the case last month with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain normalizing ties with the Jewish state – have had some influence on American Jews' optimism. Nearly two in five (37%) say they are more optimistic than they were a year ago about peace between Israel and the Arab world. Forty-nine percent say their views haven't changed much, while 13% say they are less optimistic about peace between Israel and the Arab world.
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Republicans (77%) are more likely than independents (45%) or Democrats (21 %) to say they are more optimistic about peace with the Arab world.
On the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace, 55% of American Jews say their views have not changed, while 28% say they are less optimistic, and 16% say they are more optimistic than a year ago. Republicans (43%) are more likely than independents (18%) or Democrats (7 %) to say they are more optimistic about peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
