Most Jewish Mamdani voters support 2-state solution, fear rising antisemitism: poll

Survey indicates mayor’s Jewish constituents are not aligned with his anti-Zionism; most respondents link rejection of Israel with antisemitism and oppose anti-Israel Jews

NEW YORK — Most Jews in New York City link anti-Zionism to rising antisemitism, disapprove of other Jews who support anti-Israel movements, and believe that intifada protest chants are calls to violence, according to a poll released on Sunday.

The poll of 665 Jewish adults who voted in last year’s New York City mayoral election also found that, among those who voted for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a majority back a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and are concerned about rising antisemitism.

The survey was carried out by the Jewish Majority, an organization founded last year that aims to catalog mainstream Jewish views and counter Jewish activist groups that espouse less popular positions on issues such as anti-Zionism.

Of the polling sample, 26 percent of respondents voted for Mamdani, 55% for the centrist, pro-Israel Andrew Cuomo, and 8% for Republican Curtis Sliwa.

The vast majority — 82% — said they were very or somewhat concerned about the rise of antisemitism in the city, and 17% said they were only slightly or not at all concerned.

Antisemitism has climbed in the city over the past decade, according to NYPD hate crimes data, although 2025 saw a minor decrease in antisemitic hate crimes compared to 2024. Jews are targeted in hate crimes in the city more than all other groups combined, around five times more than their share of the population.

Anti-Zionism was seen as a contributor to antisemitism, with 58% of respondents stating that the rise in antisemitism was “linked to the normalization of anti-Zionism,” while 25% disagreed.

Anti-Zionism’s literal definition is the rejection of Israel’s continued existence as a Jewish state, although there is widespread disagreement and confusion about the term, which has been stigmatized on the American left. Anti-Zionists hold that the position is political and not anti-Jewish, while critics say the movement is correlated with, or creating, antisemitism.

Mamdani voiced a similar position in 2021, saying, “Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism, and in the anti-Zionist movement that I believe in and belong to, there is no room for antisemitism.” In comments since then, he has refused to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.

Sixty-six percent of the survey respondents said that opposing Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state “undermines Jewish identity,” while 22% disagreed.

Most respondents — 68% — said that Jews who support movements to delegitimize or dismantle Israel were not “acting in the best interests of the Jewish community,” while 14% said they were.

A majority of 60% said that “intifada means violence,” while 15% held that the term signified civil disobedience; 61% said that Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the phrase had “emboldened pro-Hamas protesters.” Anti-Israel activists on New York City’s streets regularly express support for Hamas and other terrorist groups, including last week.

Eighty-four percent of respondents supported legislation to establish safe perimeters around houses of worship, including 71% who “strongly support” the bills, while only 7% opposed.

A so-called buffer zone bill for houses of worship passed in the New York City Council last month, although Mamdani did not sign the bill, allowing it to become law after a deadline for his approval expired. Similar measures are making their way through Congress and the New York State legislature.

Mamdani vetoed a similar bill, passed by the City Council, that would have bolstered police protection around educational facilities, citing free speech concerns.

Large majorities of the survey respondents supported government funding to provide security to Jewish communal spaces and a ban on face masks for individuals “engaged in harassment and intimidation.”

The respondents were mixed on Mamdani’s performance — 32% said he was doing an “excellent” or “good” job as mayor, compared to 18% who said “fair” and 40% who rated his performance as “poor.”

Only 9% said they would support a group that called for “Free Palestine by any means necessary.”

There was also broad support for a two-state solution, if it would end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with 60% in favor and 26% opposed.

Among Mamdani voters, 84% supported a two-state solution, putting them at odds with their candidate, whose anti-Zionism would preclude a Jewish state in a two-state solution.

Close to two-thirds of Mamdani voters were very or somewhat concerned about rising antisemitism.

“This survey confirms what I have seen and heard from Jewish New Yorkers across this city, and what should be obvious to anyone paying attention. Antisemitism is surging, and our community knows exactly why,” Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue said in a statement. “There is a direct and undeniable connection between the normalization of anti-Zionist rhetoric and the deteriorating safety environment.”

“We will work with Mayor Mamdani where we can, but he should understand clearly that on these fundamental questions, his own Jewish constituents are not with him,” said Hirsch, a leading voice in the US Reform movement.

The respondents were 15% Reform, 16% Conservative, 30% Orthodox, and 1% Reconstructionist, while the remainder were “something else,” did not identify with a denomination, or refused to answer. Sixty-two percent were Democrats, 16% Republicans, 22% Independents.

The figures are roughly in line with statistics measuring the city’s Jewish population overall. A 2023 survey of New York City Jews found that 19% of households were Orthodox and 20% Reform, but Orthodox households tend to have larger families, and would thus represent a larger slice of the population than their share of households.

Pollsters from Mercury Public Affairs questioned respondents via telephone in February and the survey had a margin of error of 3.8%.