Mamdani outpolls Netanyahu among American Jews as views on Israel shift
New AP-NORC polling finds New York mayor viewed more favorably than Israeli prime minister, whose standing worsened during genocide in Gaza
NEW YORK, United States (MNTV) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is viewed more favorably by American Jews than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to new polling that captures how sharply attitudes toward Israel’s government have shifted within the American Jewish community.
The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research surveyed 1,022 Jewish adults from June 11 to June 17.
Mamdani drew a favorable rating from 44 percent and an unfavorable one from 39 percent. Netanyahu was viewed favorably by 32 percent — and unfavorably by 59 percent.
The numbers matter because Mamdani’s positions on Israel were supposed to be disqualifying.
He has condemned Israel’s conduct in Gaza, declined to describe Israel as a Jewish state, said he would not visit the country, and pledged to honor an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Netanyahu should the prime minister come to New York.
He skipped the annual Israel Day parade, a fixture for city officials, and backed economic measures targeting Israel. He won 26 percent of the Jewish vote in the mayoral election.
Zionist organizations attacked him throughout — and he still finishes ahead of Israel’s own leader among Jewish Americans.
Netanyahu’s collapse is the other half of the story. Decades of cultivating American Jewish audiences have not survived his prosecution of the genocide in Gaza.
The survey also found deep division over that war: 42 percent of respondents supported Israel continuing its military campaign in Gaza, while 30 percent said Israel has committed genocide there — close to a third of American Jews applying the gravest term in international law to their own government’s ally.
Taken together, the findings describe a community no longer speaking with one voice on Israel, where generational change, humanitarian revulsion, and human rights concerns are pulling opinion away from the Israeli government — and where criticizing that government is no longer a political death sentence.
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