Donald Trump
Donald TrumpReuters

JTA - President Donald Trump’s approval rating among Jews in the United States is 31 percent.

That is more than 11 percent lower than the president’s overall approval rating of 42 percent, according to a Gallup poll taken from Jan. 20, the day Trump was sworn in, to March 15.

Gallup points outthat Jews appear to be reacting to Trump along party lines. Some 64 percent of Jews identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, according to data from the same time period, and 29 percent identify with or lean toward the Republican Party.

Gallup contends that Trump has sent “mixed signals to American Jews about their position in the country and his administration’s stance toward Israel.” Among the issues they saw as significat were being slow to denounce a pronounced wave of anti-Semitism and failing to mention Jews in the administration’s Holocaust Remembrance Day statement, as well as appointing a pro-settlements ambassador to Israel but then calling on Israel to “hold off” on building in settlements.

Trump has a “significant opportunity to boost his image among Jews, Americans and the world,” Gallup claims.”During the campaign, Trump talked about using his negotiating skills, and those of [his Jewish son-in-law Jared] Kushner, to reach a peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians. If Trump accomplishes what his predecessors could not by negotiating a peace deal, this could certainly affect his approval rating not only among American Jews but among all national adults.”

Although that idea sounds logical, it would, as Gallup does not seem to realize, depend on the terms of any peace deal. Left liberal Jewish voters, to whom a two state solution still seems viable. and who want Israel to give up Judea and Samaria, are the most vehemently anti-Trump but also have other, non-Jewish reasons for not gving him their approval. On the other hand, a deal that pleases the left might loseTrump the 30% right leaning Jews who approve of him at present.

The prevailing thought among Jews is that the party lines reflect a split in the so-called "Jewish vote," which may not exist as it once did, although Gallup polls that way. There seems to be a clear dichotomy, reflected in the approval ratings as well as the poll booth. Over 20% of the Jewish population is Orthodox, a percentage which grows from year to year, and that group voted Trump. Approximately 70% of Jews are Reform, Conservative, Open Orthodox and unaffiliated - including those who are not halakhic Jews - with left-liberal loyalties, most of whom voted for the Democrats.