Daily Alert Archives

The 2020 Presidential Election: How Jewish-Americans Voted

(Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Dr. Irwin J. Mansdorf - A study of 540 Jewish-American respondents after Election Day looked at the role Jewish identity played and asked about "pro-Israel" attitudes. We also looked at which issues played a role in determining how Jewish-Americans voted. When asked, "Would you consider yourself definitely "pro-Israel"?, a majority had no problem saying "yes" (over 57%), while only 5% said "no." 37% preferred the choice: "The term is too vague for me to give a 'yes' or 'no' answer." Among Trump voters, 87% said they were definitely "pro-Israel," with 1% saying "no" and 12% saying "the term is too vague." Among Biden voters, 52% said they were definitely "pro-Israel," with 6% saying "no" and 42% saying "the term is too vague." Fully half of our sample said their Jewish identity did not figure at all into their choice for president. While the other half did say it had an impact, only 13% said it figured a "great deal," and only 8% said it figured "a lot." In this particular election, Israel took a back seat to something else. When asked which were the "most important" issues in choosing a president, 59% chose "character and trust." When asked about the "second most important issue," respondents chose Covid-19, climate change, the economy, and health care (in that order). It appears that many Jewish-Americans are increasingly more concerned about the principle and substance of certain issues as related to their personal ideology and party affiliation and are less inclined to apply identity-based labels such as "pro-Israel" to describe themselves or define their behavior. The writer, a clinical psychologist, is a fellow at the Jerusalem Center, specializing in political psychology.
2020-11-16 00:00:00
Full Article