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Poll: 40% of American Jews believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza
(JTA) — Multiple polls have found that about 60% of Americans believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, a biting charge that Israel and the United States reject.
Now, for the first time, a poll has taken the pulse of U.S. Jews specifically — and found that 39% of them hold the opinion.
The new poll by the Washington Post, conducted in early September prior to President Donald Trump’s latest breakthrough in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, also found that 61% of American Jews said that Israel has committed war crimes against Palestinians.
While allegations that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza have been lodged against the country by international bodies, human rights groups and pro-Palestinian activists, the poll suggests that charge is now resonating more widely among even U.S. Jews — those who are most likely to have a personal connection to Israel.
The poll found that many American Jews still hold strong ties to Israel. Three-quarters of American Jews surveyed said that Israel’s existence is vital for the long-term future of the Jewish people, while over half said that they were “very” or “somewhat” emotionally attached to Israel.
But emotional ties to Israel were far weaker among younger respondents. While 68% of American Jews over 65 said they were emotionally connection to Israel, among those aged between 18 to 34, that share dropped to 36%. Younger Jews were also more likely to call Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide, with half of Jews aged 18 to 34 using the term.
The poll found that Jews were almost evenly split over Israel’s actions in Gaza, with 46% approving and 48% opposing. That divide was also split sharply on partisan lines, with 85% of Jewish Republicans approving compared to 31% of Jewish Democrats.
The majority of American Jews also blame Hamas more than Israel for the civilian death toll in Gaza, with two-thirds of American Jews blaming Hamas for starting the war and operating in civilian areas of Gaza, according to the poll.
The poll also found that criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had significantly increased among American Jews in recent years. It found that 68% expressed a negative opinion of the Israeli leader, with 48% rating his leadership as “poor,” compared to 54% disapproving of him in a 2020 Pew Research Center poll.
On the continuation of the conflict between Hamas and Israel, vast majorities of the American Jewish community assigned blame to both Hamas and Netanyahu, with 91% saying Hamas bears responsibility and 86% saying Netanyahu bears responsibility.
As several European countries recognized Palestinian statehood last month, the poll also found that over half of American Jews believe that Israel and an independent Palestinian state can coexist peacefully with each other.
Looking to the relationship between the United States and Israel, about half of respondents said that U.S. support for Israel is at about the right level. A third of respondents said that the United States is too supportive of Israel, a share that jumped 10 percentage points since the 2020 Pew poll, and 20% said it is not supportive enough.
The Washington Post poll surveyed 815 American Jews from Sept. 2 to 9 and had a margin of error of 4.7 percentage points.
The post Poll: 40% of American Jews believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza appeared first on The Forward.
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American Airlines to Resume Flights to Israel Amid Gaza Ceasefire
American Airlines planes sit on the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York City, U.S., July 30, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kylie Cooper.
American Airlines said on Sunday it would resume flights to Israel in March, after the US carrier halted the New York JFK to Tel Aviv route following Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the two-year war in Gaza.
American said it would re-launch its flights from JFK on March 28.
US rivals Delta and United have already resumed flights to Israel.
Many foreign carriers halted flights to Tel Aviv after October 7 and stayed away for long stretches during the past two years due to intermittent missile fire from Iran and Yemen.
That largely left flag-carrier El Al Israel Airlines, and smaller Israeli airlines Arkia and Israir, operating international routes, but with demand far higher than supply, airfares soared.
In the wake of a US-brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, many foreign airlines have restarted flights to Tel Aviv. British Airways, SAS, Iberia and Swiss are slated to resume flights this week.
When American resumes flights, it will become the fifth carrier to fly nonstop to Israel from the United States, along with El Al, Arkia, Delta and United.
In addition to daily flights from Newark, United later is expected to also add flights to Tel Aviv from Washington (November 2) and Chicago (November 1).
Passenger traffic at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv was up 25% over the first nine months of 2025 to 13.6 million, according to the Israel Airports Authority. El Al’s market share dropped to 32.5% from 44% a year earlier.
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Israel Allows Red Cross, Egyptian Teams into Gaza as Search for Hostage Bodies Widens
Palestinians gather around a Red Cross vehicle transporting hostages as part of a ceasefire and hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in the southern Gaza Strip, October 13. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Red Cross and Egyptian teams have been permitted to search for the bodies of deceased hostages beyond the “yellow line” demarcating the Israeli military’s pullback in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli government spokesperson said on Sunday.
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Abbas Names Hussein al-Sheikh as Temporary Successor for PA Presidency
Hussein Al-Sheikh, former Secretary General of the Executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), speaks during an interview with Reuters, in Ramallah in the West Bank December 16, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
i24 News – Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) issued a statement on Sunday outlining the succession process should the chairman’s position become vacant.
According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, Deputy Chairman Hussein al-Sheikh will temporarily assume leadership of the PA in the absence of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
The decree stipulates that al-Sheikh’s interim term would last up to 90 days, during which direct elections must be held to select a new chairman, in accordance with Palestinian election law.
If elections cannot be conducted within this period due to exceptional circumstances, the Palestinian Central Council may authorize a one-time extension.
Hussein al-Sheikh, born in 1960 in Ramallah, has a long history in Palestinian politics. As a teenager, he was sentenced to prison in Israel for terrorist activity and was incarcerated from age 18 until 1989. In the past year, he was appointed Deputy Chairman and designated successor by Abu Mazen after the Palestinian Central Council approved the creation of the position.
The announcement is seen as a move to formalize the line of succession and ensure stability within the PA amid ongoing political uncertainty and the absence of a functioning Legislative Council. Analysts say the decree clarifies leadership procedures in case of incapacity or vacancy, reflecting Abu Mazen’s efforts to maintain continuity and prevent a leadership vacuum in the Palestinian territories.