‘Tectonic rift’ in Jewish Americans’ opinion of Obama

On June 24 Klein’s group released a poll which found that 65 percent of Israelis “believed that American Jews should criticize President Barack Obama’s policy towards Israel” while just 21 percent believed they should support it.

About the poll Klein said, “Coupled with earlier results showing the abysmal level of support for Obama among Israelis after 18 months of public condemnation, criticism and pressure while placing no pressure at all on Palestinians and largely ignoring incitement to hatred and murder within Palestinian society, here is further evidence that Israelis do not support Obama’s policy and do not believe American Jews should either.”

While opinion is changing, Ben Cohen, associate director of communications for the American Jewish Committee does not believe current polling data will be manifest in future elections. “Historically, there has been a consistent pattern of Jews voting Democrat. While there has been some disquiet among American Jews over the Obama administration’s stance on the Middle East, there is a little evidence at the moment that this will significantly impact voting,” he told The Daily Caller.

E-mail Caroline May and follow her on Twitter