Support for Iran war among ‘connected’ US Jews falls again, poll finds

JTA – In the early days of the United States-Israel war on Iran, 68% of “connected” American Jews ‒ those with ties to American Jewish institutions ‒ supported the war, according to a poll taken by an Israeli public affairs institute. 

That proportion fell weeks into the war and fell further to 60% just after President Donald Trump unilaterally announced a ceasefire on 8 April, the same survey found, according to results released by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) last week and publicised on Sunday. 

The decline was sharpest among those who identified as “leaning liberal”, 42% of whom are supportive of the war, down from 57% in early March. 

At the same time, opposition among “connected” Jews has risen sharply, with about a third saying they oppose the war, up from 26% just after the war’s start. And only 14% of respondents said they believed the war had achieved “major success”. 

The survey of 806 American Jews, taken from 15 to 19 April, drew from a panel that JPPI maintains and surveys regularly. The institute says its polls reflect the sentiments of “connected” Jews because its panel includes fewer intermarried Jews, more Jews who are affiliated with denominations, and more Jews who have lived in Israel than demographic data suggests is representative of US Jewry overall. 

Two polls taken weeks into the war, before the ceasefire, found that most American Jews overall opposed the US military campaign against Iran. 

The latest results arrive as the future of the war and its dividends so far remain uncertain. Facing widespread public disapproval on Iran and pressure over oil prices, Trump has repeatedly extended the ceasefire despite failing to extract the major concessions from the Iranians that he has called for. This weekend, he said he was unsatisfied with the Iranians’ latest offer and remained torn between wanting to keep pressing for a diplomatic agreement and choosing to “go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever”. 

Speaking at an event in Florida, Trump said. “Frankly, maybe we’re better off not making a deal at all. Do you want to know the truth? Because we can’t let this thing go on. Been going on too long.” 

Iranian officials have reportedly said they expect a return to fighting, and the Israelis have said they remain at a high level of military readiness. 

A key sticking point is the future of Iran’s nuclear programme, which Trump vowed to eliminate. The Iranians have offered to halt nuclear enrichment for up to five years, but Trump has rejected that offer and is pushing for a 20-year pause, longer than the 15-year hiatus in the agreement President Barack Obama struck in 2015 and Trump exited in 2018. Following the collapse of that deal, the Iranians are understood to have embarked on an enrichment spree, giving the regime the most nuclear material it has ever possessed. Much of that material remains buried but extractible under facilities Trump bombed last year.