American Jews overwhelmingly reject JVP, poll finds
Seventy percent of respondents said that anti-Zionist movements are antisemitic by definition
Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images
Demonstrators from Jewish Voice For Peace protest the war in Gaza at the Canon House Building on July 23, 2024 in Washington, DC.
The majority of American Jews strongly reject anti-Zionist groups — and consider them antisemitic — according to a new study shared exclusively with Jewish Insider.
The poll, commissioned by The Jewish Majority, found that Jewish Americans overwhelmingly oppose the protest tactics used by Jewish Voice for Peace against the war in Gaza, despite the group’s claims that it represents the Jewish community and the central role it played in last spring’s campus anti-Israel demonstrations.
Seventy-five percent of respondents said that protests blocking traffic are unacceptable, while 60% said the same about demonstrating at the homes of government officials. The survey did not ask specifically about encampments or anti-Israel slogans at the protests.
The survey also found that 85% of those polled believe Hamas wants to commit genocide against Jews and Israel. Seventy percent said that anti-Zionist movements are antisemitic by definition.
In contrast to their views of anti-Zionist groups, respondents expressed high levels of support for mainstream Jewish organizations: 79% are members of or “generally support” the policies of the Anti-Defamation League; 79% are members of or “generally support” the policies of the Jewish National Fund; 74% are members of or “generally support” the policies of the American Jewish Committee; and 73% are members of or “generally support” the policies of the Jewish Federations of North America.
Seventy-one percent of respondents said that for an organization to credibly speak for Jewish Americans, it must be composed almost entirely of Jews, while 8% strongly disagreed.
The poll of 800 Jewish adults was conducted from Dec. 16-24, 2024.
In a statement to JI, Jonathan Schulman, executive director of The Jewish Majority, a Washington-based polling and research group, said that the findings “demonstrate that JVP misrepresents the views of the Jewish community to the public, which is as offensive as it is dangerous. In an era of unprecedented antisemitism in the United States, no one should embrace the view of extremists who are rejected by the overwhelming majority of the group they claim to represent.”