Most US Jews Support Biden’s Approach to Iran, Says Survey

Rivlin and Biden at the White House — Photo: Haim Zach/GPO

An American Jewish Committee survey found that 55% of American Jews support President Joe Biden’s approach to Iran. This is in addition to the feeling that Israel-US relations are strong. The results are part of part of the Annual Survey of the American Jewish Committee (AJC).

Opposing Biden’s talk of returning to some iteration of the previous Iran nuclear deal were 32% of American Jewish respondents. The survey also shows that Jewish communities in the United States are satisfied with President Biden’s overall performance (70%), and specifically his management of relations with Israel (58% support), the fight against antisemitism (64% support), and the coronavirus crisis (79% support).

These figures are part of a wider survey to be published in full this month that includes other issues.

Regarding Israel-US relations, 76% of American Jews surveyed said they thought the relationship was strong, compared with 20% who felt it was weak.

Sixty-eight percent of respondents voted for Biden in last year’s presidential election, compared with 21 percent who voted for Donald Trump. When you look at support for Biden as the presidential candidate by different streams of American Jewry, there is an interesting picture wherein 61% of Conservative Jews, 80% of Reform Jews and 86% of secular Jews voted for Biden in this election, compared to only 12% of Orthodox Jews who did so.

Another issue examined is the sense of optimism among American Jewry regarding Israel’s future in the Middle East. Compared to last year, a third (33%) of respondents said that they were more optimistic about the possibility of Israel making peace with the Arabs (than they were a year ago), 46% replied that there had been no change, and 20% answered that they were less optimistic about Israel’s chances of peace with other Arab countries.

The American Jewish Committee survey was conducted between March 25th and May 9th , 2021 among a representative sample of 1,000 American Jewish respondents aged 18 and over. The margin of error is ±4.5. The survey was carried out by telephone. AJC has been conducting surveys for many years examining the attitudes of the American Jewish public on a variety of issues, as well as in Israel and other countries.

Gravest threat to Israel and the world

On Monday, outgoing Israeli President Reuven Rivlin was hosted by Biden at the White House. It was reportedly a very warm gathering during which the two presidents discussed a range of issues, including the Iranian nuclear threat.

President Rivlin emphasized that this was the gravest strategic threat faced by the free world and that Iran’s policy, particularly after the recent elections, is dangerous and extremist. See: ANALYSIS: New Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi Dangerous for Israel

Rivlin further stressed Israel’s position that the Iranian nuclear deal, as it currently stands, endangers the State of Israel. He also brought up Iran’s continuing military build-up on Israel’s borders, evidenced by Hezbollah’s arming with precision missiles and Hamas’ strengthening in Gaza.