Jewish Voters Desert Democratic Party Over the Left’s ‘Anti-Israel Fanaticism,’ Pro-Israel Democratic Representative Says

Jewish New Yorkers are deserting the Democratic party because of the far left’s “anti-Israel fanaticism,” Congressman Ritchie Torres, a Democrat who was just re-elected as a New York representative for the Bronx, argues. His comment, which he shared in a post on X early Wednesday morning, addresses polls released on Tuesday suggesting that President Trump gained significant ground among the traditionally Democratic constituency during this election cycle. According to an exit poll from Fox News, 45 percent of voters in the Empire state who identify as Jewish voted for Trump this election — a 50 percent increase from the 30 percent of Jewish New Yorkers who cast their ballots in favor of Trump in 2020. Vice President Harris, meanwhile, secured only 55 percent of the Jewish vote at NYC — a remarkable decline from the 69 percent awarded to President Biden four years ago. Although Mr. Torres is not Jewish, he has been an outspoken supporter of Israel and fierce critic of antisemitism within his party. On Tuesday night, he was re-elected with 77 percent of the vote as representative for New York’s 15th congressional district, which covers parts of the Bronx. Mr. Torres’s observation was echoed by the founder of Teach Coalition, Maury Litwack, who has been tracking Jewish voter patterns in New York and other battleground states. Early Wednesday morning, Mr. Litwack mused on X: “Red wave? Blue wave? How about a push back on antisemitism wave.” He continued: “I can point to numerous examples of candidates taking terrible positions on antisemitism or staying silent on antisemitism that have cost them their races this cycle.”The impact of Jewish voter mobilization in New York was already seen in the Democratic primary elections, with the constituency contributing to the ousting of Representative Jamaal Bowman, who was highly criticized for his antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric. Historically, Jewish Americans have overwhelmingly voted in favor of Democratic candidates, with somewhere between 20 to 30 percent of the constituency backing Republicans. In the past year, however, the Jewish “blue wall” has fractured as Israel’s war in Gaza has created divisions in the Democratic party. Trump, meanwhile, used the opportunity to lobby for the Jewish vote, propping up his pro-Israel track record and foreign policy agenda. In September, while casting himself as the pro-Israel candidate, Trump claimed that, “anybody who’s Jewish and loves being Jewish and loves Israel is a fool if they vote for a Democrat.” He went so far as to say that Jews who support Ms. Harris “should have your head examined.” Pro-Israel organizations were divided over his comments, with some expressing concern that Trump was only further demonizing the Jewish community. Evidently, though, many Jewish voters — including those outside of New York — were compelled by his pro-Israel posture. According to data from Fox, between 2020 and 2024, Trump increased his share of the Jewish vote in several key states, including Florida, Arizona, and Nevada. The share of Jewish voters in Nevada that reportedly voted for Trump nearly doubled to 42 percent from 22 percent. The findings were shared by a lobbying group, the Republican Jewish Coalition, which described the Jewish vote this election cycle as playing “a major role in delivering the presidency for President Trump.” “Jewish voters from coast to coast rejected Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party due to their failure to keep the Jewish community safe, and for undermining our ally Israel as it continues to fight an existential war against Iran and its terrorist proxies,” the lobbying group wrote on X. The organization invested $15 million in the 2024 campaign to win over Jewish voters in swing states. Exit polls, however, are not immune from error or variance. Results from the National Election Poll suggest that 79 percent of Jews voted Democratic, versus 21 percent who voted Republican. If those figures are accurate, it would mean that the Republican party during this election cycle secured the lowest percentage of Jewish support in 24 years. Notably, though, the poll did not survey voters in New York or California, both of which house significant percentages of the Jewish population in America. Alternative exit polls offer significantly varied results. A poll from Fox News found that 31 percent of Jewish voters backed Trump while 67 percent voted for Ms. Harris. Those numbers actually indicate an increase in the Jewish vote for Trump from the 2020 election.

Jewish Voters Desert Democratic Party Over the Left’s ‘Anti-Israel Fanaticism,’ Pro-Israel Democratic Representative Says

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