New Poll Reveals: Netanyahu Supporters Love Trump
A recent poll asks Israelis which US candidate they would vote for if they were able to vote in the presidential election being held in ten months. While the survey recorded more support for the current president than for Donald Trump, one surprising result became clear; supporters of Bibi prefer the current Republican front–runner.
A survey carried out by Midgam, a market research company, and published last week asked Israelis about their opinions of politicians including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.
In addition, the survey asked respondents which candidate they would like to see win the US presidential election being held in ten months. 40.6% of the respondents preferred Joe Biden over Donald Trump, as compared to 26.2% who preferred Trump. 12.5% did not prefer one candidate over the other.
Some claim that this represents a huge reversal. In a poll in 2020 carried out before the last US elections, Israelis were asked, “which US presidential candidate do you think will be better for Israel?”. 63.3% of respondents chose Trump. 18.8% preferred Biden. A little over 21% replied that “Israel acts independently,” therefore won’t be influenced by a change in the White House.
Marc Zell, the chairman of Republicans Overseas Israel, questioned the relevance of the poll.
“What interests me are US citizens in Israel who vote,” Zell said. “In the last US presidential elections, about 80% of the approximately 100,000 people who cast ballots voted for Trump.”
Zell suggested that the poll reflected the perception Israelis have of US support for Israel in the war.
“I don’t think the numbers indicating support for Biden are correct, but they do show the mixed feelings Israelis as a whole have about US support for Israel in its war on Hamas,” Zell said. “Israelis have this misconception about American support for Israel during the war that has been fed to them by the media that the US is Israel’s savior, that Biden is our great benefactor. But that is not really the case.”
“I think Israelis will come to realize this as time goes on as Biden begins to waffle and waver more explicitly,” Zell said. “Biden has a sincere affection for Israel but he’s not really in control. He’s being controlled by the Obama folks who populate his White House and his cabinet. And they’re the ones that are really fixing US policy. Biden inherited a pro-Iran agenda that threatens Israel but is also horrible for the US.”
“Bibi’s challenge is to walk between the raindrops. The American government is giving important support for Israel but just beneath the surface, it is clear that the administration is very begrudgingly supporting our role in Gaza. They have put pressure on Israel, creating big problems with how we’re conducting the war. They were against the ground campaign at the outset, even though Israel is facing an existential threat.”
“The Biden administration is also concerned about the 2024 elections which is pulling them in several directions,” Zell said. “It has always been successful on a bipartisan level to support Israel. But now, they have kind of a schizophrenic problem in the Democratic Party. Biden is being threatened by the progressives in the Democrat is party which is quickly becoming the real power base in terms of activism, enthusiasm, and energy
The recent survey revealed that Israelis’ preference for a particular US candidate was linked to Israeli partisan politics. The recent survey found that only 14.5% of Netanyahu supporters preferred Biden as compared to 59.3% of Netanyahu opponents who supported Biden. 49.2% of Netanyahu supporters also supported Trump as compared to 13.3% of Netanyahu opponents who supported Trump.
Moving to Israel clearly has a significant impact on the political views of Americans. US Jews have traditionally voted Democrat and in 2020, 75% of Jewish preferred Democratic candidate Joe Biden as compared to 22% who favored Trump.
But this is not the case with US citizens in Israel. The 183,000 American citizens in Israel represent the world’s third-largest community of eligible US voters abroad and Israel saw record high voter participation in the 2020 US presidential election. In 2016, 49% of Israeli ex-pats voted for Trump as compared to 44% who voted for Clinton.
Americans in Israel more closely resemble their Orthodox Jewish cousins in the US. 74% of Orthodox Jews supported Trump in the last election as compared to 13% who voted for Biden.
The Midgam poll was conducted online and surveyed 503 Jewish adult respondents. The poll had a margin of error of 4.4%.
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