(RNS) — Shortly before the November elections, President Donald Trump promised American Jews, “I will be the best friend Jewish Americans have ever had in the White House.”
As president, he has moved to deport pro-Palestinian activists on college campuses and cut billions of dollars to elite universities for failing to combat antisemitism on campus.
But a new poll out Wednesday (May 14) shows American Jewish voters are not impressed.
The poll by GBAO Strategies, a longtime pollster of Jewish public opinion, shows that three-quarters of Jewish voters (74%) disapprove of Trump’s job performance (70% “strongly disapprove”). Most American Jews think Trump is “dangerous” (72%), “racist” (69%) and “fascist” (69%).
Perhaps most tellingly, 52% of American Jewish voters think Trump is antisemitic.
“The intensity of the opposition is extraordinary,” said Jim Gerstein, GBAO’s founding partner who summarized the poll’s results to reporters Tuesday. “This very high level of disapproval far exceeds what you see in the national population.”
“Massive Disapproval of Trump Job Performance” (Graphic courtesy of Jewish Voters Resource Center)
The poll was taken among 800 U.S. Jewish voters April 21-May 1. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
The poll shows American Jews think Trump’s actions, purportedly taken to halt antisemitism, actually increase antisemitism.
For example, 61% of American Jews said arresting and deporting pro-Palestinian protesters who are legal residents of the United States increases antisemitism. (Several former Columbia University students have been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for their pro-Palestine activism despite being permanent residents.)
And 49% of American Jews think withholding federal funding from universities will increase antisemitism. (Another 26% said it would have no impact.)
“I think it’s very scary to a lot of Jews that someone can be whisked off the street and sent away because of the whim of the government,” said Ian Lustick, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Pennsylvania, referring to the arrests of pro-Palestinian student activists. “Jews are attached to the idea of law. It’s in our DNA to believe in the rule of law, and that’s very scary to see that flagrantly abused.”
The poll shows American Jewish attachment to Israel has fallen from its post-Oct. 7, 2023, high, after the Hamas attack o …