ByJPOST EDITORIAL

JULY 12, 2026 05:56

While polls have shown declining US backing for Israel, especially among Democrats and Independents along with some young Republicans, a fresh AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey this week offered new insight.

It was not the finding that roughly one-third of US adults, including about half of Democrats, see Israel as committing genocide in Gaza, or that 58 percent of Democrats feel the US backs Israel too strongly. Similar patterns have appeared elsewhere lately.

Instead, the surprise came from American Jewish respondents rating New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani more positively than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The data indicated 44 percent of American Jews hold a very or somewhat favorable opinion of Mamdani, who rejects Israel as a Jewish state and has labeled AIPAC monsters, compared with just 32 percent who feel the same about Netanyahu.

The opposite holds as well. American Jews express more unfavorable views toward Netanyahu at 59 percent than toward Mamdani at 39 percent.

Consider that result. The poll suggests American Jews hold stronger negative feelings toward Israel's prime minister than toward New York's mayor, who has threatened to arrest Netanyahu during any city visit.

Some may claim this reveals how problematic and risky Netanyahu has become. We see it differently.

Insight into American Jewish life today

Beyond any judgment of Netanyahu, the numbers highlight the condition of American Jewry and how connections of shared identity and unity are weakening there.

When members of one's own community favor a figure whose words reject Jewish self-determination, a right held by all other nations, over the head of the state that represents that right, an issue exists.

Netanyahu certainly faces challenges. Yet segments of American Jewry that back voices seeking to undermine the Jewish state present an even greater concern.

A separate AP-NORC poll issued alongside found that three in ten American Jews see their identity as ethnic, cultural or familial despite describing themselves as agnostic, atheist or without religious ties. These individuals also show weaker links to Israel.

The findings reinforced a long-observed pattern: American Jews more involved in religious observance, whether Orthodox, Conservative or Reform, maintain stronger bonds with Israel.

Put simply, greater synagogue participation across movements correlates with firmer support for Israel and, logically, reduced sympathy for those who seek to damage the Jewish state.

The core difficulty remains that fewer American Jews participate in such religious settings.

Many Israelis learned of the poll via comments from former Chicago mayor and possible presidential candidate Rahm Emanuel during his Israel visit this week, where he sharply criticized the government in remarks at Tel Aviv University.

In discussion with this publication, he cited the survey, somewhat misleadingly, to argue that Israel has already forfeited support not only from the Democratic Party but from America overall.

Israel confronts a major issue

His point was clear: when Jews rate Mamdani above Netanyahu, even though the poll sought separate favorability scores rather than a direct matchup, Israel faces a major issue.

The claim misleads because figures like Emanuel, though not the most extreme, have spent decades criticizing the settlement enterprise, Israel's right wing and Netanyahu for resisting the Oslo two-state framework.

They often warn the Israeli public that it is losing America and American Jews.

A fitting response might note that such voices, as Jews, contribute to turning American opinion against Israel.

This does not excuse Israeli policies, military steps or provocative statements by certain officials from contributing to falling American support.

Netanyahu himself was less than candid in a CNN interview this week when he largely attributed the drop in backing to TikTok.

Yet voices like Emanuel, who overstate Israel's isolation in economic, military and diplomatic spheres and portray it as a global outcast, share responsibility for spreading that perception.