
Despite warnings by President Joe Biden, and criticism from former President Donald Trump, a new poll has found a broad consensus among American Jews, including those who support the current President, in support of an Israeli operation in Rafah to eliminate Hamas.
The March edition of the monthly Kol Haam: Voice of the People Survey, by the Jewish People Policy Institute, found that among respondents intending to vote for Biden, seven out of ten believe that Israel should enter Rafah. The only cohorts with a significant percentage against entering Rafah were those who identified as “strong liberal” (26%) and Jews who had never visited Israel (21%).
The survey also found widespread agreement with Biden's calls for Israel to work harder to protect civilians in Gaza.
Approximately half of the respondents who described themselves as "centrist" said that Israel's actions in Gaza are at the right level. Slightly less than half (43%) of those who are "strong liberals" said that Israel's actions were much too aggressive.
From January to March 2024, there were significant changes in respondents’ assessment of US support for the Israeli war effort. Between January and February, there was a significant uptick among politically centrist Jews (those self-identifying as centrist, conservative-leaning, or liberal-leaning), who view US support as insufficient. However, from February to March, there was a notable shift, primarily among strong liberals (about a quarter of the survey sample), with more than a quarter of them now believing that the US supports Israel too much, and the proportion who believe US support is "at the right level" has decreased.
The survey also asked respondents about Senator Chuck Schumer's controversial attack on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in which he called for new elections in Israel. The overwhelming majority of conservatives (both leaning and strong) said that Schumer was wrong about Israel needing to go to elections and also had no place to say so. On the left as well, while the majority of those who identify as liberal believe that Israel should hold elections, the majority of those who are liberal-leaning said Schumer had no place to say so. Only those who identified as strong liberals said that Schumer had the right to call for new elections.