The result is less a simple popularity contest than a snapshot of a community wrestling with Israel, Gaza and progressive politics. The numbers also come with caveats that matter.
Zohran Mamdani is more favorably viewed by U.S. Jews than Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a new poll that gives Mamdani higher favorability in a comparison with Israel’s prime minister. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey, reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on July 8, 2026, found New York Mayor Mamdani at 44% approval among U.S. Jewish adults, compared with 32% for Netanyahu. Mamdani’s response to the findings was brief: “It’s great.”
That short answer lands in a much bigger argument. The poll is not just about whether American Jews like one politician more than another; it is about how sharply views of Israel, Gaza and U.S. progressive politics are changing inside a community often described too simply from the outside.
A striking 12-point split
The AP-NORC survey found Mamdani with 44% approval among U.S. Jews, while Netanyahu stood at 32%. The poll included 1,022 Jewish adults and carried a 5% margin of error for that group, according to JTA’s summary of the survey.
That makes the comparison attention-grabbing, even if it should not be mistaken for an election result or a full measure of political loyalty. Approval is a broad temperature check. It can capture enthusiasm, grudging respect, name recognition, anger or fatigue all at once.
Still, the result is politically awkward for Netanyahu. He is the sitting Israeli prime minister, the face of Israel’s government during the Gaza war and a globally known figure. Mamdani is a New York progressive mayor whose national image is still being formed.
For Mamdani, the quote “It’s great” is a concise victory lap. For Netanyahu, the number points to something more serious: a weakened connection with a slice of the American Jewish public whose support Israeli leaders have long treated as strategically important.
Why Netanyahu is the drag
Netanyahu’s standing with American Jews has been under pressure for years, but Gaza has intensified the divide. The same AP-NORC poll found that 38% of Jewish respondents said the United States is being too supportive of Israel.
That is a striking figure because U.S. support for Israel has historically been one of the least contested pillars of American foreign policy. The argument today is not simply pro-Israel versus anti-Israel. It is increasingly about what kind of support is acceptable, what limits should apply and whether U.S. leaders should use more leverage.
The survey also found that 30% of Jewish respondents said Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide. That is a measure of respondents’ views, not a legal finding, but it shows how severe the moral language around the war has become even within parts of the Jewish community.
Netanyahu’s problem in this poll is not only that some U.S. Jews disapprove of him. It is that his image is now tangled with the most polarizing questions in American politics: war, civilian suffering, U.S. aid, campus activism, antisemitism and the limits of dissent.
Mamdani’s appeal has limits
Mamdani’s stronger number does not mean U.S. Jews have suddenly rallied behind every part of his politics. He is a prominent progressive and a sharp critic of Israeli policy, positions that energize some voters and alarm others.
That tension is part of why the poll has traveled so widely. A politician frequently criticized by pro-Israel voices is polling better among U.S. Jews than Israel’s prime minister. To Mamdani’s allies, that suggests the old assumptions about Jewish voters are cracking. To critics, it may say more about Netanyahu’s unpopularity than about Mamdani’s mandate.
Both readings can be true. Mamdani may benefit from younger, more progressive and more Gaza-focused Jewish voters who see criticism of Israel’s government as compatible with Jewish values. At the same time, a 44% approval rating is not overwhelming. It leaves plenty of room for skepticism, opposition or uncertainty.
The important point is that Mamdani’s number complicates a common political shortcut: that forceful criticism of Israel automatically places a U.S. politician outside the boundaries of Jewish communal support.
Gaza reshapes the conversation
The poll’s Gaza findings are the real engine beneath the headline. Netanyahu trails Mamdani in approval, but the deeper story is the widening gap between Israeli government policy and the views of many American Jews.
For some respondents, disapproval of Netanyahu may reflect anger over the conduct of the war. For others, it may reflect frustration with his long tenure, domestic Israeli politics or his alignment with right-wing forces. Some may support Israel strongly while still rejecting Netanyahu personally.
That nuance matters. American Jewish opinion is often treated as a single bloc in U.S. politics, especially during campaigns and foreign policy fights. Polls like this show a more fractured picture: attachment to Israel, concern about antisemitism, anger over Gaza and dissatisfaction with leaders can coexist in the same electorate.
It also explains why Mamdani’s reaction, while brief, is politically useful. He can point to the poll as evidence that his critique is not as marginal among Jewish Americans as opponents may argue.
The poll deserves caution
One survey should not carry more weight than it can bear. The AP-NORC poll has a reported 5% margin of error for the 1,022 Jewish adults interviewed, and survey results can move with news events, question wording and sample composition.
There is also a difference between approval and electoral behavior. A Jewish respondent may approve of Mamdani in a broad sense but never vote for him. Another may disapprove of Netanyahu while remaining strongly supportive of Israel or skeptical of progressive candidates.
Favorability comparisons across countries can also be uneven. Netanyahu is being judged as a wartime prime minister. Mamdani is being judged as a U.S. local political figure with a national profile. The offices, expectations and stakes are not the same.
That does not make the result meaningless. It means the poll is best read as a signal, not a verdict. The signal is that Netanyahu is not commanding automatic approval from U.S. Jews, and Mamdani is not automatically disqualified by his criticism of Israeli policy.
What the number changes
The immediate effect is rhetorical. Mamdani and other progressives can use the survey to argue that their Israel positions are closer to parts of Jewish public opinion than critics claim. Netanyahu’s defenders can counter that one poll does not define a diverse community or settle a foreign policy debate.
The longer-term question is whether this reflects a durable shift. If future polling shows similar results, U.S. politicians may become more willing to challenge Israeli government policy while still speaking directly to Jewish voters. If the numbers fade, this may look more like a snapshot taken during an unusually volatile moment.
For now, the finding is hard to ignore because of who is involved: Zohran Mamdani, a progressive New York mayor, and Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s dominant political figure of the modern era. Among U.S. Jews in this survey, Mamdani came out ahead.
That does not settle the debate over Israel, Gaza or American Jewish politics. It does show that the debate is no longer following the old script.
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