Nearly half of American Jews lack confidence in US President-elect Donald Trump’s ability to fight antisemitism, according to a survey administered to 582 American Jews by the Jewish People Policy Institute.
Of the 582 respondents, 420 identified with strong liberal, liberal-leaning, or centrist beliefs.
The survey asked respondents to rank their confidence in Trump’s ability to do the right thing regarding Iran, the Palestinian issue, fighting antisemitism, and US-Israel relations.
However, the questions didn’t define “the right thing,” leaving that open to interpretation by respondents.
“The further one moves on the religious spectrum from liberal to conservative, the higher the confidence respondents have regarding Trump’s future activities,” the JPPI found.
Liberals not confident in Trump’s ability to fight antisemitism
Liberal respondents have little to no confidence across the board that Trump will “do the right thing” in any area of questioning.
“Among liberals, nearly all of whom voted for Kamala Harris, the lowest degree of confidence regarding Trump’s upcoming term pertained to the fight against antisemitism, followed by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the JPPI wrote in the survey findings.
Reform and Conservative Jews are almost equally divided in their confidence in Trump to handle the US-Israel relationship and the Palestinian conflict, with 49% of Reform and 42% of Conservative respondents having no confidence in Trump’s ability to fight antisemitism.
Politically conservative and Modern- and ultra-Orthodox Jews have high confidence that Trump will “do the right thing” in all areas concerning Iran, the Palestinian issue, fighting antisemitism, and US-Israel relations.
44% of Modern-Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox Jews have strong confidence in Trump’s handling of antisemitism, with 61% of ultra-Orthodox Jews expressing confidence in Trump’s handling of US-Israel relations and 67% expressing confidence in his handling of Iran.
The JPPI also questioned respondents’ confidence in Secretary of State-designate Marco Rubio’s ability to “do the right thing” in dealing with Iran.
A majority of conservatives and 41% of centrists have confidence in Rubio “doing the right thing,” with a majority of strong liberals and a quarter of liberal-leaning respondents reporting no confidence in Rubio at all.
Most survey respondents agreed with the statement that it’s “legitimate for Israel to refuse a ceasefire in Gaza until all of the hostages are released,” though only 52% of strong liberals agreed with the statement, whereas 99% of strong conservatives were in agreement.
Liberals reported feeling more concerned about security – but less secure – because of the war, and there’s been little change in Reform Jews’ feelings of security since the war began.
However, Conservative, Modern-Orthodox, and Ultra-Orthodox Jews all reported feeling more secure since November 2023 by at least 9%.
Liberal Jews also think the US supports Israel too much, while conservative Jews believe the US doesn’t support Israel enough.
This article was originally published at www.jpost.com
