Number of Orthodox Jews Identifying as GOP Has Skyrocketed

 

The latest Pew Research study on religion is out, and this particular nugget stuck out at me:

Among the findings of the Pew Research Center’s new survey of American Jews is one that has become increasingly self-evident in recent years: Orthodox Jews in the U.S. overwhelmingly affiliate with the Republican Party.

According to the newest study, 75% of Orthodox Jews surveyed said they were Republicans or leaned Republican. In 2013, the last year in which Pew conducted a survey of American Jews, 57% of Orthodox Jews said they were Republicans or leaned Republican.

Why is that? Well, we’re seeing it play out in real-time with these latest Hamas rocket attacks against Israel. After four years of peace and peace deals, we’re back to the status quo, with my Israeli friends spending the night hiding in bomb shelters.

Shot:

And chaser:

And this statement from former President Trump came before Biden’s:

There are a lot of other reasons why Orthodox Jews are finding themselves self-identifying more as Republican (our religious values line up a great deal more with the right than the left, for starters), but on Israel, the reasons are crystal clear this week.

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  1. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    This is good news, but are there enough Orthodox Jewish voters to make a difference?  Still, every vote helps . . .

    • #1
  2. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    If you are a Jew that favors the Democratic Party, you are affiliating with anti-Semites. Wouldn’t make sense to me.

    • #2
  3. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    It’s an interesting survey.

    From which:

    The survey…finds that 71% of Jewish adults (including 80% of Reform Jews) are Democrats or independents who lean toward the Democratic Party. But among Orthodox Jews, three-quarters say they are Republican or lean that way.

    And

    About six-in-ten (58%) say they are at least somewhat attached to Israel, and those who have been to Israel are especially likely to feel this way (79%)…But there are sharp partisan differences in attitudes toward Israel. At the time of the survey…Jewish Democrats and Democratic leaners were much more likely than Jewish Republicans and GOP leaners to say the U.S. was too supportive of Israel (29% vs. 5%).

    And weirdly:

    About half of Orthodox Jews in the U.S. say they have “not much” (23%) or “nothing at all” (26%) in common with Reform Jews, and a majority of Reform Jews reciprocate those feelings: 39% say they have “not much” in common with the Orthodox and 21% say they have “nothing at all” in common.

    Really?  It seems unlikely, but ??

    @susanquinn – why would liberal American Jews ‘not understand’ how Jews could vote Republican?  What do they say (about you?)?

    • #3
  4. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Zafar (View Comment):
    @susanquinn – why would liberal American Jews ‘not understand’ how Jews could vote Republican?  What do they say (about you?)?

    The same reason, @zafar, that Lefties don’t understand why everyone doesn’t vote like them. I’m sure they think I’m as evil as the rest of the Republicans.

    • #4
  5. Old Bathos Member
    Old Bathos
    @OldBathos

    Biden could ship Iran the rocket fuel for the missiles that deliver nukes at Israel, cheer leftist mobs for assaults on synagogues, and erect a monument to the PLO on the mall, and he could still get 50% of the Jewish vote.  The lemming-like suicidal devotion to the progressive identity is pathetic and deep-seated.

    • #5
  6. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Old Bathos (View Comment):

    Biden could ship Iran the rocket fuel for the missiles that deliver nukes at Israel, cheer leftist mobs for assaults on synagogues, and erect a monument to the PLO on the mall, and he could still get 50% of the Jewish vote. The lemming-like suicidal devotion to the progressive identity is pathetic and deep-seated.

    We could wonder how they deal with the cognitive dissonance, but maybe cognition has nothing to do with it.

    • #6
  7. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    Zafar (View Comment):

    And weirdly:

    About half of Orthodox Jews in the U.S. say they have “not much” (23%) or “nothing at all” (26%) in common with Reform Jews, and a majority of Reform Jews reciprocate those feelings: 39% say they have “not much” in common with the Orthodox and 21% say they have “nothing at all” in common.

    Really?  It seems unlikely, but ??

    What does a Reform Jew and an Orthodox Jew have in common? There is no commonality in their beliefs, and very few in their behavior. 

    Judaism is not a race. 

    • #7
  8. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    If you are a Jew that favors the Democratic Party, you are affiliating with anti-Semites. Wouldn’t make sense to me.

    Well, most blacks support The Party of Slavery, so go figure . . .

    • #8
  9. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    Who has more children?  The Orthodox Jew.  Who believes the world has too many people already and fears to bring another child into the world?  The Reform Jew.  Who marries a non-Jew?  The Reform Jew.  Who believes the Palestinians want the same out of life as the Jews?  The Reform Jew.  Who believes in the “two-state solution”, ignoring the plain fact that the Palestinians are not civilized and ruin everything they touch (like Gaza)?  The Reform Jew.  Who will be the savior of Judaism in the long run?  The Orthodox Jew.

    • #9
  10. Charlotte Member
    Charlotte
    @Charlotte

    When I was in office, we were known as the Peace Presidency

    Really? By whom? Has this phrase ever actually been used before, about any US presidential administration?

    I’m not criticizing Trump about his Israel policy, but the first sentence of his statement is absurd.

    • #10
  11. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Zafar (View Comment):
    @ susanquinn – why would liberal American Jews ‘not understand’ how Jews could vote Republican? What do they say (about you?)?

    The same reason, @ zafar, that Lefties don’t understand why everyone doesn’t vote like them. I’m sure they think I’m as evil as the rest of the Republicans.

    If you want to workshop a supervillainess name I’m totally available. 

    • #11
  12. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    iWe (View Comment):

    What does a Reform Jew and an Orthodox Jew have in common? There is no commonality in their beliefs, and very few in their behavior. 

    Judaism is not a race. 

    But it is, in part, a culture?  

    I’m curious: you honestly feel more of a link to Evangelical Christians than to Reform Jews?

    • #12
  13. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    Charlotte (View Comment):

    When I was in office, we were known as the Peace Presidency

    Really? By whom? Has this phrase ever actually been used before, about any US presidential administration?

    I’m not criticizing Trump about his Israel policy, but the first sentence of his statement is absurd.

    Why is it absurd? How many wars did Trump get us into? There was one Never-Trumper on Ricochet that had an avatar that stated “I’m Already Against the Next War,” from his fear that Trump would get us into new wars. Guess what? Trump didn’t get us into the next war.  Further, the world was a more peaceful place (if you omit Democrat-run US cities) at the end of his term than at the beginning.

    As near as I can tell, Trump has been the least interventionist President since Coolidge. Every President since Hoover has gotten us involved in foreign interventions.  Trump did not. 

    So explain why he should not claim his was the Peace Presidency, especially as compared to all of his predecessors since FDR.

    • #13
  14. Charlotte Member
    Charlotte
    @Charlotte

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    Charlotte (View Comment):

    When I was in office, we were known as the Peace Presidency

    Really? By whom? Has this phrase ever actually been used before, about any US presidential administration?

    I’m not criticizing Trump about his Israel policy, but the first sentence of his statement is absurd.

    Why is it absurd? How many wars did Trump get us into? There was one Never-Trumper on Ricochet that had an avatar that stated “I’m Already Against the Next War,” from his fear that Trump would get us into new wars. Guess what? Trump didn’t get us into the next war. Further, the world was a more peaceful place (if you omit Democrat-run US cities) at the end of his term than at the beginning.

    As near as I can tell, Trump has been the least interventionist President since Coolidge. Every President since Hoover has gotten us involved in foreign interventions. Trump did not.

    So explain why he should not claim his was the Peace Presidency, especially as compared to all of his predecessors since FDR.

    The absurdity is in the claim that the Trump Administration “was known as the Peace Presidency”. No one has ever described it as such.

     

    • #14
  15. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    Charlotte (View Comment):

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    Charlotte (View Comment):

    When I was in office, we were known as the Peace Presidency

    Really? By whom? Has this phrase ever actually been used before, about any US presidential administration?

    I’m not criticizing Trump about his Israel policy, but the first sentence of his statement is absurd.

    Why is it absurd? How many wars did Trump get us into? There was one Never-Trumper on Ricochet that had an avatar that stated “I’m Already Against the Next War,” from his fear that Trump would get us into new wars. Guess what? Trump didn’t get us into the next war. Further, the world was a more peaceful place (if you omit Democrat-run US cities) at the end of his term than at the beginning.

    As near as I can tell, Trump has been the least interventionist President since Coolidge. Every President since Hoover has gotten us involved in foreign interventions. Trump did not.

    So explain why he should not claim his was the Peace Presidency, especially as compared to all of his predecessors since FDR.

    The absurdity is in the claim that the Trump Administration “was known as the Peace Presidency”. No one has ever described it as such.

    No one in the media described Trump (a President who got the majority of the votes he received in 2020 from minorities and women voters) as anything other other than a white supremacist (while Biden’s margin of victory was provided by white males).

    No one in the media described the Trump economy as the strongest  of the century.

    No one in the media described Operation Warp Speed as a success for Trump.

    You know, maybe you are right. It was absurd that no one described the Trump Presidency as the “Peace Presidency” (Other than those who nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize). But that doesn’t make Trump’s claim that his was the Peace Presidency absurd.

    • #15
  16. Randy Weivoda Moderator
    Randy Weivoda
    @RandyWeivoda

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    Charlotte (View Comment):

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    Charlotte (View Comment):

    When I was in office, we were known as the Peace Presidency

    Really? By whom? Has this phrase ever actually been used before, about any US presidential administration?

    I’m not criticizing Trump about his Israel policy, but the first sentence of his statement is absurd.

    Why is it absurd? How many wars did Trump get us into? There was one Never-Trumper on Ricochet that had an avatar that stated “I’m Already Against the Next War,” from his fear that Trump would get us into new wars. Guess what? Trump didn’t get us into the next war. Further, the world was a more peaceful place (if you omit Democrat-run US cities) at the end of his term than at the beginning.

    As near as I can tell, Trump has been the least interventionist President since Coolidge. Every President since Hoover has gotten us involved in foreign interventions. Trump did not.

    So explain why he should not claim his was the Peace Presidency, especially as compared to all of his predecessors since FDR.

    The absurdity is in the claim that the Trump Administration “was known as the Peace Presidency”. No one has ever described it as such.

    No one in the media described Trump (a President who got the majority of the votes he received in 2020 from minorities and women voters) as anything other other than a white supremacist (while Biden’s margin of victory was provided by white males).

    No one in the media described the Trump economy as the strongest of the century.

    No one in the media described Operation Warp Speed as a success for Trump.

    You know, maybe you are right. It was absurd that no one described the Trump Presidency as the “Peace Presidency” (Other than those who nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize). But that doesn’t make Trump’s claim that his was the Peace Presidency absurd.

    So I guess we shouldn’t laugh when Joe Biden claims that his colleagues in the Senate all called him Middle Class Joe.  No one else can recall other senators calling him that, but since an argument can be made that they should have called him that, we’ll count it as a true statement. 

    • #16
  17. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    Zafar (View Comment):

    iWe (View Comment):

    What does a Reform Jew and an Orthodox Jew have in common? There is no commonality in their beliefs, and very few in their behavior.

    Judaism is not a race.

    But it is, in part, a culture?

    I’m curious: you honestly feel more of a link to Evangelical Christians than to Reform Jews?

    We certainly get along far, far better.

    • #17
  18. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    iWe (View Comment):

    Zafar (View Comment):

    iWe (View Comment):

    What does a Reform Jew and an Orthodox Jew have in common? There is no commonality in their beliefs, and very few in their behavior.

    Judaism is not a race.

    But it is, in part, a culture?

    I’m curious: you honestly feel more of a link to Evangelical Christians than to Reform Jews?

    We certainly get along far, far better.

    A segue but not a direct answer.  Okay. 

    • #18
  19. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    Zafar (View Comment):

    iWe (View Comment):

    Zafar (View Comment):

    iWe (View Comment):

    What does a Reform Jew and an Orthodox Jew have in common? There is no commonality in their beliefs, and very few in their behavior.

    Judaism is not a race.

    But it is, in part, a culture?

    I’m curious: you honestly feel more of a link to Evangelical Christians than to Reform Jews?

    We certainly get along far, far better.

    A segue but not a direct answer. Okay.

    Direct answer: YES. We have much, much more in common. We both believe in G-d, and in making our lives purposeful. We take the text seriously. I have extremely deep relationships with Evangelical Christians. But I have never managed to have a serious conversation about religion and Torah with a reform Jew. There is not enough of a common language.

    • #19
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