An American Jewish Committee poll found U.S. Jews virtually split on the Iran nuclear deal and showed Hillary Rodham Clinton well ahead of the pack among preferred presidential candidates.
The annual AJC poll published on Sept. 11 showed 50.6 percent of respondents approved of the sanctions relief for nuclear restrictions deal reached in July between Iran and six major powers, and 47.2 percent disagreed with it.
That’s a virtual tie, based on the 4.7 percent margin of error. The poll of 1,035 Jews was conducted Aug. 7-22 by GfK market research.
Asked about presidential candidates, 39.7 percent of respondents listed Clinton as their first choice, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent, who is vying with Clinton for the nod among Democrats, as a second choice at 17.8 percent. Among Republicans, billionaire Donald Trump was in the lead with 10.2 percent, followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 8.7 percent.
The poll suggested gains for Republicans, who have struggled for years to top 30 percent among Jewish voters: Overall, Democratic candidates garnered 58.5 percent of support while Republicans added up to 37.4 percent.
On the Iran deal, the AJC pollsters went for a straightforward question: “Recently, the U.S., along with five other countries, reached a deal on Iran’s nuclear program. Do you approve or disapprove of this agreement?”
Other polls of U.S. Jews on the Iran issue have been accused of bias because of questions that attempted to contextualize or explain the deal.
In a follow-up question, the AJC respondents showed a lack of confidence in the ability of the deal to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Those who replied “very confident” numbered just 4.9 percent, while “somewhat confident” were at 30.7 percent. The “not so confident” came in at 30.1 percent and the “not at all confident” were at 33.2 percent.
Respondents were culled from a pool of 55,000 people who had been asked through a system of random selection to participate in such surveys. They responded via email. — jta