Poll: Majority of American Jews Say They Are Not Zionist

In the first of its kind, the Zionist Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) has polled American Jews (downloadable pdf) on their views of Zionism.  The poll is groundbreaking because previous surveys have tracked attitudes toward Israel among Jews, deliberately excluding use of the term “Zionism.”  Probably because of the difficulties of defining the term clearly and respondents views of it. Also, there is a popular (and false) conception that attitudes toward Israel are the same as those toward Zionism.

The results should be shocking to Jewish and Israel Lobby organizations.  They indicate a marked erosion in traditional positive attitudes toward Israel and Zionism.  No previous poll has ever asked the question: “do you consider yourself Zionist.” And it goes without saying no poll has ever asked whether respondents consider themselves anti-Zionist or non-Zionist.

Only 37% of American Jews consider themselves Zionist.  62% said they were either anti-Zionist, non-Zionist, or that neither label applied to them.  If you asked any Jewish communal leader what they thought the percentage was, their answer would be 80-90%.  Other related results found that less than half of Jews under age 44 said Israel made them “proud to be Jewish.”

Israel Lobby groups assume that Jews imbibe Zionism like their mother’s milk.  The ideology is, according to common conception, almost inbred in Jewish DNA.  This survey shows this is not so, and that Israel itself is causing Jews to peel away from Zionism.

There’s another misguided claim by anti-Semites and Zionists alike, that “95%” of Jews are Zionist.  The true number, as reported above, is less than a third of that.  The larger figure is based on a poorly-formulated Gallup poll that asked if the respondent had a “favorable view of Israel.”  As noted here, Zionism and Israel are not the same thing.  Meaning that a favorable view of of Israel does not equate to being Zionist.

It’s important to note the JFNA poll was conducted in March 2025, nearly a year ago.  Views have, if anything, hardened since then given the continuing genocide in Gaza and Israel’s refusal to adhere to the ceasefire.  Also, the poll was sponsored by an avowedly Zionist group (JFNA), whose pollster sought, to the extent possible, to return results favorable to the sponsor.  That doesn’t mean that the poll was faulty; but it does suggest the potential for skewing the results.

15% of respondents consider themselves anti- or non-Zionist.  The number rises to 22% among those under age 44.  Although a minority, it is much higher than it would have been in the past.  From the end of WWII till recently Zionism was a consensus among American Jews. The percentage of Zionists would have been much higher and anti-Zionists, lower.  But as the Dylan lyric goes: “Something is happening here and you don’t know what it is–do you Mr. Jones.”  Jewish communal groups like the ADL, American Jewish Committee, Aipac, etc. have cruised along certain in their conviction that the their community is overwhelmingly Zionist.  This survey blows that notion out of the water.

The survey attempted to downplay the anti-Zionism results by claiming that those who held such views misunderstood the definition of the term: “Jews who are not Zionists believe Zionism includes components beyond the classic definition of the word.”  That’s not only debatable, but false.

The problem with this approach is that it is based on the traditional American Jewish conception of Zionism, which has long been eclipsed with actual Zionism as practiced in Israel.  These traditional views haven’t yet caught up to “facts on the ground,” though they are rapidly changing to reflect these recent developments.

To highlight the separation between the Israeli and American Jewish perspective on Zionism note this: 30% of American Zionists believe Zionism means Israel has the right to the West Bank and Gaza, while 42% of Israelis support annexation with restricted rights for Palestinians. While 20% of American Zionists believe that Palestine denial is a tenet of Zionism, there is no similar poll results regarding Israeli views. However, denialism is prevalent among Israelis, especially among the dominant far-right electorate and political class. 70% of Israelis reject a Palestinian state.  But 60% of American Jews support Palestinian statehood.  5% of American Jewish Zionists believe that Zionism stands for Jewish superiority over Palestinians, while 72% of Israelis believe Jews should have superior rights to Palestinian-Israelis.

These discrepancies reinforce the divide between American and Israeli definitions of Zionism. They point out why the claim that the anti-Zionist understanding of Zionism “is beyond the classic definition of the word.”  What they really mean is that it is beyond the American definition of the term.

Anti-Zionist beliefs which are purportedly not “classic” Zionism:

• 90% of anti-Zionists and non-Zionists believe that Zionism means “the right to the West Bank and Gaza.”
• 80% of anti-Zionists and 40% of non-Zionists believe Zionism considers Palestinians a made-up population.
• Only 20% of anti-Zionists and 5% of non-Zionists believe Zionism stands for creating a Palestinian state.
• 80% of anti-Zionists and 50% of non-Zionists believe Zionism stands for supporting whatever Israel does.
• 80% of anti-Zionists and 50% of non-Zionists view Zionism as representing that Jews are superior to Palestinians.

Objectively, each of these definitions of Zionism as actually practiced in Israel are correct.  They are not beyond the definition of the term. If Israel and Zionism are the same, as most American Jews and all Israeli Jews believe, then what Israel does is Zionism.  Settlements are Zionism. Apartheid is Zionism. Ethnic cleansing is Zionism. Even genocide is Zionism.  That’s because Israel claims a monopoly on Zionism and Jewish peoplehood, no matter what we may say or believe here in America.

American Jews may view Zionism through the rose-colored glasses of yesteryear, but that isn’t what Zionism actually  is.  The liberal Zionism of American Jewry has long since been eclipsed by reality.

Adapting the old Irving Kristol saying: anti-Zionists are liberal Zionists who’ve been mugged by Israeli reality.  To be liberal Zionist you must ignore what Israel actually is and what it does.  You may hold beliefs about what it is, but they are beliefs about what you would like it to be, not what it is.