Updated 11:59 pm.EST, Fri November 20, 2009

Society|Sat, Oct. 03 2009 11:47 PM EDT

Gallup: U.S. Jews Still More Supportive of Obama than Christians

By Aaron J. Leichman|Christian Post Reporter

Among America’s four largest faith groups, Jews are most likely to approve of the job that Barack Obama is doing as president, according to the results of a new Gallup poll analysis.

For the month of September, 64 percent of U.S. Jews tracked by Gallup Daily expressed their approval of Obama – 10 points higher than the next highest group, Catholics. Only 47 percent of Protestant Christians, meanwhile, said they approved of the job that Obama is doing and 32 percent of Mormons said the same.

Among atheists, agnostics, and those without a religion, 65 percent gave their approval.

“President Obama enjoys staunch support from U.S. Jews – much higher than what he earns from Catholics and Protestants, particularly with regard to non-Hispanic whites,” reported the Gallup organization while noting that support for Obama among U.S. Jews has trended downward since January as the national average has.

“American Jews' solid backing of Obama stands in contrast to Jewish opinion in Israel, where many are still taking stock of the new American president and trying to determine his long-term policy intentions for the Mideast,” it added.

Gallup further noted that a recent poll of Jews in Israel, sponsored by the Jerusalem Post, found only 4 percent believing Obama's policies are "pro-Israel" and 35 percent calling them evenly balanced, while 51 percent said they are "pro-Palestinian."

By contrast, a previous survey found 88 percent of Israelis believing George W. Bush's policies were "pro-Israel."

“For Israeli Jews, Obama's position toward their country is clearly of central importance to how they view Obama,” the Gallup organization stated.

Though Muslims were not included in its latest analysis, as it covered only those religious groups constituting at least one percent of the U.S. population, Gallup did suggest that U.S. Muslim support for Obama would likely be quite high as an earlier poll revealed it to be higher than even that of Jews.

In May, when U.S. Jewish support for Obama was at 79 percent, U.S. Muslim support was at 85 percent.

According to Gallup’s latest analysis, only 52 percent of Americans in general approve of the job Obama is doing as president, down one point from the month before and five points the month before that. In January, that figure stood at 66 percent.

Sort by: Newest | Oldest | Agree | Disagree
All comments on this page are subject to our Terms of Use and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Christian Post or its staff.
  • Tue Oct 06, 2009 2:29 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 0

    Minn,

    A Xian is one who has accepted God's gift of forgiveness and follows the King, it is not a nationality or ethnic group as Jews, Poles, Anglos, Russians, Ecuadoreans, etc.

    Grace and Peace,
    Jim

  • Tue Oct 06, 2009 8:48 am Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

    minn, growing up in a Christian family does not make one a Christian. Please keep in mind that one being Jewish refers to a nationality as well as can refer to a religion. No one is born Christian, but people are indeed born Jewish.

  • Mon Oct 05, 2009 11:58 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

    "it almost never is about religion but instead it is about the culture."

    So then people born into Christian families who as adults become atheists are then "Christian Atheists"?

  • Mon Oct 05, 2009 10:46 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 0

    Let people flag and give as many thumbs down as people's hearts desire, it matters none to the truth. As long as the truth is spoken and given in love and with salted words, a believer's hands are clean.

    Grace and Peace,
    Jim

  • Mon Oct 05, 2009 6:10 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

    os, I do wish that those who are disagreeing with us on this issue would speak to it rather than just flag us or give us thumbs down. But my wife and I traveled to Israel in 85 and you're absolutely right about their rich historic heritage. We also had the opportunity to spend the night with an Israeli family and that was very informative as well as they shared their family history.

  • Mon Oct 05, 2009 5:58 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 1

    Minn,

    Jews usually self identify as Jews because of the cultural heritage much like other people do. If they are born Americans and are not Israeli citizens, yes they would be American Agnostics as well. As Believer said, it isn't always about religion (which modern day Judaism is for the most part nothing like biblical Judaism) and in my opinion (which that and 12 bucks will get you a small latte at Starbucks) it almost never is about religion but instead it is about the culture.

    That is not a slam of any sort, it is really a compliment when a group of people maintain an identity for roughly 3500 years when all others have faded from history.

    Grace and Peace,
    Jim

  • Mon Oct 05, 2009 11:52 am Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

    "Fiscal Republican and socially Democratic. Sounds a pretty good way to be."

    Absolutely! As long as by "fiscally Republican" you mean "fiscally Democratic" - that is, more fiscally conservative! ;-) :D

    The time that Believer is referring to is back when the Republicans were more fiscally conservative than Democrats. Now it's the reverse.

  • Mon Oct 05, 2009 8:22 am Agree: 0   Disagree: 1

    minn, for some reason people keep flagging the truth in this matter, but the reality is that a large percentage of Jewish people are agnostics and atheists, but don't forget that being Jewish is not always about religion, but about nationality as well. So the better term might be American Jewish Atheists.

  • Mon Oct 05, 2009 8:15 am Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

    "American Jews by and large are quite agnostic or atheistic in their beliefs so why would they support Israel? "

    So doesn't that make them American Atheists then as the would no longer consider themselves Jewish?

  • Mon Oct 05, 2009 1:48 am Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

    Fiscal Republican and socially democratic. Sounds a pretty good way to be.

  • Sun Oct 04, 2009 3:53 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

    steveh20, that might be, when I was growing up in Rochester I caddied at an all Jewish Country Club and most talk relatively conservatively and U. S. Senator Jacob Javitz, a Jew was a Republican. My sense is they were fiscal Republicans and socially Democrats.

  • Sun Oct 04, 2009 3:46 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 1

    Flagged as inappropriate. show Whose the raytard that's flagging? Knobhead. hide

  • Sun Oct 04, 2009 3:05 pm Agree: 4   Disagree: 1

    I wonder if they register democrat because they remember Germany and what happens when the far right get power, better safe than sorry.

  • Sun Oct 04, 2009 2:37 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 3

    Flagged as inappropriate. show os, guess you hit somebody's hot button, since it is absolutely true that a majority of Jews in America are indeed non-practicing Jews and a very large percentage of them are atheists. Plus, this poll is a huge waste of money since historically a majority of voting Jews are indeed registered democrats. hide

  • Sun Oct 04, 2009 8:04 am Agree: 3   Disagree: 3

    Flagged as inappropriate. show This shouldn't be surprising to anyone. American Jews by and large are quite agnostic or atheistic in their beliefs so why would they support Israel? Grace and Peace, Jim hide

  • Sun Oct 04, 2009 12:58 am Agree: 2   Disagree: 1

    "For the month of September, 64 percent of U.S. Jews tracked by Gallup Daily expressed their approval of Obama - 10 points higher than the next highest group, Catholics"

    Intelligence.

Please help us to monitor our message boards by flagging comments that are unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable.
Contact Us if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.
Comment on this story
ID Password

Don't have a Christian Post ID? Signing up is easy. Click Here

  • icon1
  • icon2
  • icon3
  • icon4
  • icon5
The Christian Post reserves the right to terminate the account of any User who violates our Terms of Use.
Advertisement
Advertisement
CP Shopping
  • Jewelry
  • Health
  • Gifts
  • Music
  • Coins

Bracelets | Chains | Crosses | Earrings | Gemstone |

Featured contents & Giveaways
Joolwe :
Cross-pendant necklace
Zondervan

Struggling to succeed in the Nashville music scene, talented singer/songwriter Parker James finds the competition fierce even deadly. A young woman's murder, industry corruption, a

Featured Advertiser Links