Most Jews support Biden, call anti-Semitism a “serious” problem, according to poll

A majority of American Jews support President Biden’s re-election campaign and say they trust him over former President Trump to combat the “serious” problem of rising anti-Semitism, according to a poll published Monday.

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) 2024 American Jewish opinion poll — held from March 12 to April 6 — shows that Jews have largely not been angered by the president, despite some rhetoric suggesting that Biden’s policies in Israel and Gaza could hurt him among Jewish voters.

In a hypothetical matchup today, 61 percent say they would support Biden, 23 percent say they would support Trump and 10 percent say they would support “someone else.”

The results are similar to the percentage of respondents to the survey who say they voted for Biden in 2020 (64 percent) and who say they voted for Trump in 2020 (21 percent), suggesting that there has not been much change in their positions.

The same poll shows that Jews are increasingly concerned about the rise in anti-Semitism in the US, especially since the October 7 attacks on Israel, but trust Biden more than Trump to resolve the problem.

Nearly all Jews (93 percent) say anti-Semitism in the U.S. is a “serious problem” (56 percent) or “somewhat of a problem” (37 percent), with 7 percent saying it is not a problem. problem.

A majority of Jews (87%) also say in the survey that, “since the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7th,” they think anti-Semitism in the U.S. has either “increased a lot” (55%) or “increased somewhat.” (33%). Percent). Just 1% say anti-Semitism has decreased and 12% say it has stayed the same.

At the same time, American Jewish adults feel increasingly connected to Israel, with 85% saying they think it is important for the U.S. to support Israel after October 7th, and 57% saying they feel more connected to Israel or to his Jewish identity since the attacks. .

“Although rising anti-Semitism makes Jews feel less safe, American Jews are defiantly proud of who they are and even more connected to Israel,” said AJC CEO Ted Deutch, a former member of Congress who left in 2022 to lead the nonpartisan global advocacy group for the Jewish people.

Amid growing concerns among U.S. Jews, 55 percent say Biden would be better at combating anti-Semitism in the U.S., compared with 20 percent who say Trump would be better. Fifteen percent say nothing of the sort and 9 percent are unsure.

Regarding which major party presidential candidate would be best for the U.S.-Israel relationship, 49 percent say Biden, 25 percent say Trump, 13 percent say neither and 13 percent say they are not sure.

The poll shows that Biden also enjoys a high approval rating (56%) for his overall role as president, with 24% “strongly” approving and 32% “somewhat” approving. Forty percent disapprove, including 16 percent “somewhat” and 24 percent “strongly.”

Asked about Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, approval drops to 48 percent, with 13 percent “strongly” approving and 35 percent “partially” approving. Forty-three percent disapprove, including 20 percent “somewhat” and 23 percent “strongly.”

The AJC survey included 1,001 Jewish adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story