A dovish Middle East advocacy group has released poll results showing that a vast majority of Jewish voters attribute a recent rise in antisemitism to Donald Trump and his allies in the Republican Party.
J Street on Thursday published the election night poll finding that 76 percent of American Jews believe the former president and his wing of the GOP are responsible for an uptick in antisemitism and white supremacy. The poll also found 74 percent believe Trump and the MAGA movement are "a threat to Jews in America." The poll follows reports of increasing antisemitic incidents and as Trump is expected to announce another bid for the presidency.
The poll was conducted by research company GBAO on behalf of J Street, which describes itself as a "pro-Israel, pro-peace" advocacy group, and included responses from 800 self-identified Jewish voters who cast ballots in Tuesday's midterm elections.
Democrats and other opponents of Trump issued dire warnings to voters in the run-up to the 2022 midterms that allies of the former president would undermine democracy and elevate extremism if they prevailed in races up and down the ballot.
J Street said in a statement reporting the poll's findings that the "overwhelming majority" of American Jews shared these concerns. The poll found that 74 percent of respondents voted for Democratic congressional candidates in the midterms.
"The vast majority of our community is deeply alarmed by the rise in antisemitism, white supremacy and far-right extremism driven by Donald Trump and his allies in the GOP," Jeremy Ben-Ami, J Street's president, said in a statement. "As in 2020, they voted for Democratic candidates in huge numbers, repudiating those who think Jewish Americans can somehow be won over by a Republican Party that seems dead set on targeting democratic values and fundamental rights."
Newsweek has reached out to Trump for comment.
Trump has previously presented himself as an ally of the Jewish people, citing his steadfast support for Israel. In 2017, the Trump administration formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, rankling Palestinian leaders who said the move was a setback in the peace process.
The Trump administration also helped normalize diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab countries that had previously been antagonistic to the Jewish state.
But Trump has also faced strong criticism from Jewish advocacy groups for making remarks they characterized as antisemitic. Trump faced blowback after he said during a speech in 2019 at the Israeli American Council's National Summit in Florida that "the Jewish state has never had a better friend in office than your president."
More recently, Trump was denounced by Jewish groups in October for a Truth Social post where he lamented that American Jews didn't appreciate him more, telling them "to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel."
The Anti-Defamation League found that incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism targeting Jews have risen in the U.S., reaching an all-time high of 2,717 last year.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Jake Thomas is a Newsweek night reporter based in Portland, Oregon. His focus is U.S. national politics, crime and public ... Read more
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