Poll: 73% of New Yorkers say local Jews faces antisemitism; state split on Israel aid
NEW YORK — Three-quarters of New York voters said they think Jewish New Yorkers face antisemitism after the Oct. 7 terror attack in Israel, and 51% support the U.S. offering more military aid to Israel as it wages its war in Gaza, according to a Siena College poll published Monday.
The statewide survey, conducted last week, found 37% of New Yorkers saying they felt Jews in the state were experiencing significant antisemitism, and 36% saying they felt the group was facing some antisemitism. Overall, 73% said Jews face at least some antisemitism, according to the poll.
Sixteen percent of respondents said they thought Jewish New Yorkers faced little or no antisemitism, the survey found. Almost 60% of respondents said Islamophobia has grown in New York since Oct. 7, and 62% said Muslims face at least some Islamophobia, according to Siena.
The poll came after a series of publicized incidents of antisemitism, including vile vandalism in Manhattan and on Long Island, and a shooting threat against Cornell University’s campus Jewish life organization.
Reported hate crimes against Jews in New York City flared by more than 200% in October, according to government data.
And the survey came as disagreements about U.S. policy on Israel divide local Democrats.
Some New York Democrats have called for a ceasefire in Gaza. Israel’s war has led to enormous bloodshed in the strip after Hamas, which rules Gaza, staged its Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israel. Other New York Democrats have opposed a ceasefire, emphasizing Israel’s right to defend itself.
The Siena survey, which did not poll opinions on a ceasefire, found 53% of New York Democrats supported more American military aid to Israel and 37% opposed it. GOP support was slightly higher — 59% of Republicans supported more aid, while 29% opposed it.
The Israel-Gaza war could be hurting President Joe Biden’s already shaky standing with American voters. An NBC News poll found 70% of U.S. voters between the ages of 18 and 34 opposed the president’s handling of the conflict, NBC said Sunday.
Biden, who has been under pressure to push Israel to soften or freeze its military campaign, led his expected 2024 rival, former President Donald Trump, by 10 points in New York in a head-to-head matchup, according to Siena’s new poll.
Biden beat Trump by 23 points in the state in 2020.
“It doesn’t mean New York is likely to go red,” said Don Levy, director of the Siena College Research Institute, but he added the poll does signal a “lack of enthusiasm among some usual Democratic voters” toward Biden’s candidacy.
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