A rising number of Jewish Americans said they are shielding their identities in public, while just 1 in 5 said they feel very safe, according to a new poll from The Washington Post.
Of those who were polled, 47 percent said there was “a lot” of antisemitism in the country, while 48 percent said there is “some” antisemitism. Additionally, 26 percent said they feel “not too” safe in the U.S., but 51 percent said they feel “somewhat” safe.
In the poll, conducted in September, 42 percent of Jewish Americans said they do not publicly wear or display anything that would identify them as Jewish. This is a sharp increase from a previous Post poll in which 23 percent said they did not publicly identify themselves as Jewish.
American Jews were also skeptical about the Trump administration’s use of antisemitism task forces on college campuses. Forty-two percent said they think the administration’s attempts to tackle antisemitism at colleges are “not at all” effective, while 25 percent said they are “somewhat” effective and 6 percent said they are “very” effective.
There’s also skepticism toward the administration’s main goal of combatting antisemitism at colleges and universities. Thirty-five percent said that the goal is to “reduce” antisemitism. However, 45 percent said the goal is to “make colleges more politically conservative,” and 21 percent said there is “a different goal.”
Most Jewish Americans strongly disapproved of President Trump’s handling of the presidency, at 64 percent. Only 14 percent approved of how he’s handling his job.
Conducted before the recent peace deal and ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the poll also showed that 48 percent of Jewish Americans disapproved of the war in Gaza, while 46 percent approved. And 91 percent said Hamas holds responsibility for the war, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a close second at 86 percent.
Of those polled, 72 percent said criticizing Israel for anything is not antisemitic, with 67 percent saying that Israel’s actions toward Gaza is also not antisemitic. But 71 percent said calling for American Jews to bear responsibility for Israel’s actions in Gaza is antisemitic.
The Washington Post poll was conducted Sept. 2-9 and included 815 respondents. The margin of error is 4.7 percentage points.