Majority of midterm voters say US is too supportive of Israel, while exit polls show Jews strongly favoring Democrats.
By World Israel News Staff
A majority of voters in Tuesday’s US midterm elections believe American support for Israel is excessive, according to a major national election survey that also found sharp partisan divisions over Washington’s relationship with the Jewish state.
The Fox News Voter Poll, conducted by SSRS, found that 51% of voters said US support for Israel was “too strong,” compared with 37% who considered it “about right” and just 12% who believed it was “not strong enough.”
The results came as Democrats swept to victory in the November 3 midterm elections, taking control of both chambers of Congress amid growing public dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump’s administration and the ongoing war with Iran.
The survey revealed a pronounced partisan divide over Israel, with Democratic voters dominating the group that considered American support excessive.
Among respondents who said US support for Israel was too strong, 79% voted Democratic and 19% voted Republican.
By contrast, Republicans accounted for 72% of voters who considered American support for Israel appropriate, compared with 26% who voted Democratic.
Among those who believed US support for Israel was insufficient, 59% voted Republican and 40% voted Democratic.
The findings indicate that dissatisfaction with Washington’s support for Israel was concentrated among Democratic voters, while Republicans overwhelmingly dominated the groups expressing satisfaction with current support or calling for stronger backing.
The results reflect a broader shift in American attitudes toward Israel that had been evident in national polling before the election.
A September Quinnipiac University survey found that 48% of registered voters believed the United States was too supportive of Israel, while 34% considered American support appropriate and 8% thought it was insufficient.
That survey also found that 38% of voters sympathized more with the Palestinians, compared with 35% who sympathized more with Israelis, marking the first time the Palestinians had led in the university’s polling on the question.
Despite the widespread dissatisfaction with American support for Israel among Democratic voters, Jewish Americans continued to support Democratic congressional candidates by a substantial margin.
The SSRS survey found that 68% of Jewish voters backed Democrats, compared with 31% who voted Republican.
Jewish voters represented approximately 3% of the national electorate.
A separate set of preliminary figures reported by NBC News showed a nearly identical breakdown, with 67% of Jewish voters supporting Democrats and 32% voting Republican.
A separate Election Day survey conducted by GBAO Strategies for the liberal Jewish organization J Street found that 72% of Jewish voters supported Democratic candidates, illustrating some variation between different measures of the Jewish vote.
The findings were broadly consistent with surveys conducted before Election Day. A September Jewish Electorate Institute poll found that 71% of Jewish voters intended to support Democrats, compared with 23% who favored Republicans.
Another September survey commissioned by the Jewish Voters Resource Center found that Democrats led Republicans among Jewish voters by 67% to 26%.
The Jewish Democratic Council of America welcomed the election results, arguing that Jewish voters had played an important role in the Democratic victories.
“Affordability and the defense of democracy were the top issues driving the Jewish vote in the midterms,” said the organization’s chief executive, Halie Soifer.
Soifer said Jewish Americans wanted lawmakers to address rising living costs, combat antisemitism and maintain Israel’s security.
She also acknowledged that the organization had not endorsed every victorious Democratic candidate, saying it expected disagreements with some members of the incoming congressional majority.
Jewish voting patterns varied in several closely watched contests, particularly in Michigan, where Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers despite opposition from some Jewish voters concerned about El-Sayed’s positions on Israel.
An exit survey of Jewish early voters in Michigan indicated that El-Sayed received substantially less support from Jewish voters than Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson, highlighting divisions within the Democratic electorate over candidates’ positions on Israel.
In New York’s 17th Congressional District, Republican incumbent Mike Lawler lost to Democrat Cait Conley despite strong support in heavily Hasidic communities in Rockland County.
The national results also showed substantial opposition to the Trump administration’s military campaign against Iran, which became a major issue in the midterm elections.
According to the SSRS survey, 63% of voters said the United States had made the wrong decision in launching military action against Iran, while 37% believed the decision was correct.
Among those who opposed the decision, 83% voted Democratic and 15% voted Republican.
Conversely, 91% of voters who supported the military campaign backed Republican candidates, compared with just 8% who voted Democratic.
The findings suggest that opposition to the Iran war, like criticism of American support for Israel, was closely associated with voting Democratic.
The war’s political consequences have drawn particular attention following statements by Vice President JD Vance, who blamed the conflict for the Republican Party’s electoral defeat.
Trump also acknowledged that the war contributed to Republican losses by raising gasoline prices, although he continued to defend the military campaign.
A September Marquette Law School poll had already found that 55% of American adults believed the United States was providing too much military aid to Israel, compared with 12% who thought assistance was insufficient.
The SSRS survey was conducted between October 19 and November 3, combining online and telephone interviews with registered voters and in-person interviews at selected Election Day polling locations.
The overall research program surveyed approximately 100,000 voters nationwide, while the question concerning American support for Israel was answered by 39,730 respondents. The religious-affiliation breakdown was drawn from a larger sample of approximately 79,000 respondents.
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