Press Release

Despite Spending to Court Jewish Vote by GOP, New Poll Shows Jewish Vote Locked for Joe Biden

September 14, 2020

WASHINGTON –  As President Trump prepares to host Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain to sign agreements establishing diplomatic ties, a new poll from the Jewish Electorate Institute released today indicates that despite this deal and other Israel policy decisions, President Trump has failed to win over Jewish voters. Trump’s numbers are exactly where they were in February 2020 with Jewish voters, and Biden has a 37-point lead.

“While we welcome openings between Israel and Gulf States, we see tomorrow’s signing ceremony for what it is – a recklessly-planned foreign policy stunt driven first and foremost by Trump’s political calculations, and a potential security risk to Israel given Trump’s reported plans to sell advanced fighter jets to the UAE,” said Halie Soifer, executive director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America. “Furthermore, today’s polling shows Trump’s policies on Israel, including the UAE deal, have not increased his support among Jewish voters. Jewish Americans trust Joe Biden more than Donald Trump on every issue, including Israel.”

“Less than 24 hours before this signing ceremony, it remains unclear to the Israeli government what they will be signing, but make no mistake – if F-35s are sold to the UAE in exchange for peace, Israel’s security is at risk and its qualitative military edge (QME) will be in jeopardy. Peace cannot be bought or achieved on a political whim, Israel’s QME should not be undermined, and Donald Trump cannot circumvent congressional oversight of arms sales in a reckless effort to serve himself,” said Soifer.

Besides showing no impact of Trump’s Israel policy on Jewish voters, the poll, which surveyed more than 800 self-identified Jewish likely voters nationally between September 2 and 7, found that Jewish voters overwhelmingly disapprove of Trump’s job performance, don’t trust him on any issue, and believe that his response to the pandemic, as well as the rise of white nationalism and anti-Semitism, have made Jews less secure.

“Donald Trump is attempting to put political points on the board less than 50 days before the election, and he’s not winning over any Jewish voters. Jewish voters trust Joe Biden more on every issue driving the Jewish vote in this election, and they’ll overwhelmingly support Biden in November,” said Soifer.

To read more about the poll visit – https://www.jewishelectorateinstitute.org/2020-national-survey-of-likely-jewish-voters/

To speak with Soifer or to learn more about JDCA please contact [email protected]