The oversimplified vision of any religious, cultural or racial group as a bloc that votes together is being challenged by changes within the U.S. Jewish community.
Journalist and scholar Peter Beinart said this month at the Boston University Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies Yitzhak Rabin Memorial Lecture that American Jews are more polarized than ever over Israel. BU Today reported, “He described a generation of young Jews divided between “secular universalists” who are “less comfortable with privileging Jews over non-Jews” in areas such as human rights for Palestinians, and a growing Orthodox group who are “arguably less integrated into U.S. society than their parents” and less willing to accept criticism of Israel.
Newsweek reported on a Quinnipiac University study that found a similar split among Democrats overall. It said, “Democrats are divided on the Mideast situation as 27 percent say their sympathies lie more with the Israelis and 26 percent say their sympathies lie more with the Palestinians, with 46 percent undecided.”
According to the politics section in 100 Questions and Answers About American Jews, “In 2014, about 61 percent of people who identified as Jews also identified as Democrats or leaned that way. About 29 percent identified as or leaned toward being Republican. The study, by Gallup, showed that the Democratic preference had declined from 71 percent in 2008. The Democratic preference was higher among women, non-religious Jews and Jews with higher educations.”
