Poll: 61% of American Jews believe Israel committed war crimes in Gaza

As Israel’s war on Gaza grinds on, a Washington Post poll finds that 61 percent of American Jews say Israel is guilty of war crimes in the besieged territory, and nearly 40 percent consider them genocidal.

The report, published on Sunday, revealed that many American Jews sharply disapprove of Israel’s actions in Gaza.

“The findings are striking given the long-standing ties between the US Jewish community and Israel, suggesting the potential for a historic breach over the Gaza war,” the report said.

American Jews are increasingly dissatisfied with the current Israeli cabinet, with 68 percent expressing disapproval of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership, a decline of 20 percentage points from a Pew Research Center poll conducted five years ago, the report added.

Many respondents told The Post that they initially supported Israel’s military offensive but, as the war dragged on with little progress against the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, they became appalled by Israel’s atrocities against Gaza’s civilian population.

One participant, Julia Seidman, a writer from Washington, said, “[nothing] justifies what is happening. The amount of human suffering that we are seeing now … I am just disgusted.”

When asked who bears responsibility for the continuation of the genocide, 80 percent blamed Israel, 86 percent blamed Netanyahu, and 61 percent the United States.

The poll also revealed a generational divide. Only 36 percent of Jewish Americans aged 18 to 34 said they feel emotionally attached to Israel, a remarkably low figure compared with older generations.

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The survey indicates that the Gaza genocide has accelerated ongoing trends, as a relatively liberal US Jewish community continues to distance itself from an increasingly militant and conservative Israeli regime.

The war in Gaza has also deepened divisions among settlers in the occupied territories, with tens of thousands of Israelis regularly protesting the regime’s policies that have further isolated it on the global stage.

Many Israelis believe Netanyahu is prolonging the genocide for his own political survival, seeking to delay his corruption trial and an inquiry into the security failures exposed during the Al-Aqsa Flood operation conducted on October 7, 2023, and carried out by Palestinian resistance forces in response to years of Israeli oppression.

The widening divide between American Jews and the Israeli regime may also have implications for US politics.

Top Democrats, including Jewish lawmakers, are now more openly critical of Israel than in the past and face less risk of backlash from Jewish voters who are increasingly skeptical of Netanyahu.

When the Senate voted in July on two resolutions to block arms sales to Israel, most Democrats supported them. However, the measures failed due to opposition from Republicans.

The resolutions were introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), a prominent Jewish politician and a leading advocate for holding Israel accountable for its atrocities in Gaza.

Also in July, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-New York) and other Jewish senators, including California’s Adam Schiff and Hawaii’s Brian Schatz, called for a major expansion of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Schumer had earlier urged Netanyahu to step down and call new elections.

Since the Israeli regime launched its genocidal assault on Gaza on October 7, 2023, it has killed 67,074 Palestinians and injured 169,430 others, most of them women and children.

Experts believe the actual number of casualties is much higher, as thousands remain unaccounted for or are still buried under the rubble.

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