Ever since Franklin Delano Roosevelt ran for president in 1932, the Democratic Party has enjoyed support from vast swathes of Jewish voters.
Jews were viewed as one of the most consistently liberal and Democrat-friendly groups, with seven out of ten Jewish adults characterising their politics as liberal, according to a 2020 survey by Pew Research Centre. But in recent years that trend has changed, with more Jewish voters defecting to the Republican Party or registering as independents.
While taxes, inflation, immigration, abortion, gun rights and healthcare used to be among the key issues determining an election, this November more Jewish Americans will be single-issue voters than ever before, focused on which party or candidate takes antisemitism more seriously. New Yorker Alyssa Sadoff, 59, who works in the nonprofit sector, says she has always considered a range of social and political issues when casting her vote, but that has since changed. “If we can’t protect and save ourselves, we won’t have the privilege of voting on other issues,” she says. “I’ve been fundraising and advocating for everyone else’s rights and welfare, but now I am singularly focused on protecting and advocating for ourselves.”
Antisemitic incidents in the US reached record highs in 2023, up 140 per cent compared to 2022, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The more than 8,800 incidents recorded by the ADL last year – including vandalism and physical assault on Jewish people at schools, community centres and on the streets – was the highest number recorded since the organisation began tracking such data in 1979.
Jamie Brenner, a bestselling novelist based in the Philadelphia suburbs, became a single-issue voter in recent months after feeling increasingly betrayed by the Democratic Party’s indifference to what she describes as an existential crisis for Jews.
“The pledge of allegiance I grew up saying promised ‘liberty and justice for all’,” Brenner says. “When terrorists are allowed to take over the streets of this nation and call for the death of Jews, when Jewish college students are barred entry to classrooms, when people call for ‘Zionists’ to exit subways, our liberties are not being protected. I do not feel safe in the United States of America.”
For other Jewish voters, such as 33-year-old New Yorker Danielle Neftin, the issues at stake matter more than the party label, with the turning point for her being the recent Republican National Convention where expunging antisemitism and returning the American Jewish hostages still held in Gaza took centre stage.
“I’ve only voted Democrat in the past but based on the RNC and general Republican response, I’ll be changing course this election year,” says Neftin, who works in cybersecurity. She added that “the Republicans have the guts to address antisemitism head on, and I’ve never seen such an outright support for Israel and Jews on national television in my entire life”.
College student Aden Kosoi, 19, was a registered Democrat prior to October 7, but after feeling abandoned by the left, he re-registered as an independent.
“As the months went on, I became sceptical of the left due to their inaction to fight antisemitism, their waffling on Israel and even pandering to Islamists and terror supporters.”
With Biden dropping out of the 2024 presidential race, all eyes will be on the Democratic National Convention, which begins on August 19, where new party frontrunner Kamala Harris is likely to clinch the nomination from some 4,700 Democratic convention delegates, many of whom had previously pledged their votes to Biden.
Jewish voters such as 30-year-old Jon Heller, who works in real-estate private equity, will pay close attention to whether or not Harris – or any emerging Democratic candidate – will make tackling antisemitism a top priority.
“There’s been minimal support from the moderate left for Jews and Israel,” he says.
“Israel and my safety as a Jew are the only issues I can really think about for the next four years. We’ve had to warn our nanny since October 7 that if someone comes up to her on the street and asks if our son is Jewish to say no, out of fear for his safety.”
Heller adds: “It’s never felt unsafe to be a Jew in New York City until these last nine months – and it doesn’t feel like the current administration is adamant about changing that.”
Jonathan Harounoff is author of the forthcoming book Unveiled: Inside Iran’s #WomenLifeFreedom Revolt
