While most Jews are indeed strong backers of Israel, the polling data suggests that the generally liberal ideology of Jewish Americans continues to align with their long-standing affinity to the Democratic Party. In the Pew Research Center’s 2014 aggregate surveys, 41 percent of Jewish respondents described themselves as liberals, compared with 24 percent of the public at large…

Nonetheless, Obama’s proposed deal with Iran, in light of Israeli concerns about it, could significantly weaken long-standing Jewish American allegiances to the Democratic Party.  Gallup recently reported approval of Obama among Jews declining from 64 percent in 2013 to 54 percent in 2015, and went on to note that highly religious Jews in the Gallup sample were least positive about the president.

Gallup speculated that whether this trend will continue or reverse itself “will depend in part on the future of the relationship between Obama and Israeli leadership. This in turn will reflect the status of the pending agreement with Iran that would restrict that country’s nuclear activity in return for a further loosening of economic sanctions.”  Indeed, while largely liberal American Jews have expressed humanitarian-based criticism of Israel’s handling of the Palestinian situation, their reaction might be just the opposite to a potential threat to it posed by the Iranian deal.