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Harris Maintains Stable Support From Jewish Voters Despite Loss, Trump Gains Big Among Jews in New York
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, US, Aug. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Erica Dischino
Despite losing Tuesday night’s US presidential election in resounding fashion, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris maintained a commanding national lead among Jewish voters according to exit polling, undermining narratives that Democrats would suffer an unprecedented erosion of support among the traditionally liberal voting bloc.
Amid ongoing furor over a historic surge in antisemitism across the US and the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, a Fox News exit poll, conducted in partnership with the Associated Press, found that Harris still won 66 percent of Jewish voters, staving off a substantial collapse among the demographic.
Meanwhile, Harris’s Republican opponent, former US President Donald Trump, garnered 32 percent support among Jewish voters, the exit poll found.
However, the same data of all 50 states in the US showed that Trump, who won the presidential contest, won a remarkable 45 percent of Jewish voters in New York state, compared to 30 percent in 2020.
Harris’s performance among Jewish voters nearly mimicked incumbent President Joe Biden’s performance during the 2020 election, in which he won the demographic by a margin of 68-30 percent.
However, Harris notably underperformed with Jewish voters compared to historical averages. In presidential elections dating back to 1968, Jewish voters have preferred the Democratic nominee over the Republican nominee by an average of 71 percent to 26 percent, according to Jewish Virtual Library.
Trump experienced a 50 percent increase in support from Jewish voters in New York, the exit polling found, representing a historic performance by a Republican presidential nominee in the deep blue state.
A separate exit poll from Edison Research, which conducts the National Election Pool, found that 79 percent of Jews said they voted Democratic, compared to 21 percent who voted Republican. That poll surveyed voters in only 10 states: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. The survey notably did not include New York, home to the largest American Jewish community.
In the months following the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7, New York transformed into a flashpoint in cultural battles regarding antisemitism. Student protesters marched throughout Columbia University chanting slogans calling for the destruction of Israel. Several public schools in New York City also lectured students that Israel was committing “genocide” and “apartheid.” Meanwhile, US Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a Democrat from New York, embarked on a months-long political campaign against the Jewish state, accusing it of enacting an “indiscriminate” bombing campaign in Gaza and exaggerating the atrocities committed by Hamas on Oct. 7.
New York also experienced a surge in antisemitic hate crimes in the year since the Hamas-led onslaught, amid the ensuing war in Gaza.
Maury Litwack, founder and CEO of the Teach Coalition, argued that the results of Tuesday’s election are reflective of frustration stemming from rising antisemitism across the country.
“Red wave? Blue wave? How about a push back on antisemitism wave. I can point to numerous examples of candidates taking terrible positions on antisemitism or staying silent on antisemitism that have cost them their races this cycle,” Litwack wrote on X/Twitter.
In the months leading up to election day, polling data and experts gave mixed indications on whether Jews would exit the Democratic Party en masse to cast ballots for Trump. Some polls suggested that Jews were set to support Trump in record numbers. Other surveys indicated that Jewish voters were sticking to their liberal roots by backing Harris.
Initial data does not appear to support the notion that Jews across the country rebuked the Democratic Party, although some polls indicate that many Jews in specific localities turned to the Republicans in numbers not seen in years.
The post Harris Maintains Stable Support From Jewish Voters Despite Loss, Trump Gains Big Among Jews in New York first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.