Just 37% of Jewish Americans Identify as Zionists. Sólo 37% de los judíos de EEUU se identifican como sionistas. ENG ESP

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JFNA Survey Finds Just 37% of Jewish Americans Identify as Zionists
Theodore Sasson 17 February, 2026

The Jewish Federations of North America released its survey of Jewish Americans last week. Much of the commentary on the survey has focused on the seemingly small share of respondents who identified as Zionist—just 37%. 8% identified as Non-Zionists and 7% as Anti-Zionists. The largest share of respondents, 48%, identified with none of those labels. The survey was conducted in March of 2025, as reports of worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza were gaining traction.

Since surveys of Jewish Americans rarely ask whether they identify as Zionists, it is unclear whether the figure for those who embrace the label is low. In most surveys, respondents are asked their feelings and attitudes about Israel and not whether they identify as Zionists. In this respect, the JFNA survey found that 71% of respondents felt an emotional connection to Israel and 88% believed Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state. These figures are in the ballpark of other surveys.

The survey’s most interesting findings were about how respondents understand the meaning of term “Zionism.” There is a broad consensus that it means “the right of the Jewish people to have a Jewish state.” Most Anti-Zionists and Non-Zionists, however, defined Zionism as also meaning “Israel has a right to the West Bank and Gaza Strip”; “supporting whatever actions Israel takes”; and “believing Jews are superior to Palestinians.” Respondents who identified as Zionists tended not to identify with these additional statements. This suggests that the share of respondents who identify with Zionism depends on the understanding of the term as much or more than it does than on actual support for Jewish nationhood.

Not surprisingly, the youngest age group, 18-34 year olds, were the most likely to identify as Anti-Zionist (14%) or Non-Zionist (18%). This is the age cohort that came of age during a succession of right wing governments in Israel, and that has been most exposed to the pro-Palestinian movement which has made “anti-Zionism” its core ideological commitment.

Israel and Jewish communal organizations will need to adjust to a sizeable (but not majority) segment of Jewish America’s younger generation that is hostile to or distanced from Zionism as a label and even from Israel.

NOTE

Zionism is a political ideology, of German influence, that developed in Europe at the end of the 19th century, amidst the rise of nationalism, the idea of ​​“one people, one nation, one state” (in this case centered on Zion, ancient Jerusalem), the theory of evolution, the notion of race, and eugenics.

Zionism views Jews as a race, not as a religious or cultural group, and therefore goes against Jewish history. For Jews who oppose Zionism, the role of statehood (Israel) runs counter to their self-understanding of what it means to be Jewish.

Zionism is violent. Zionism is terrorist. Zionism is supremacist. Zionism is racist. Zionism is sexist. Zionism is fanatical. Zionism is colonialist. Zionism is antisemitic.

Many Jews around the world are not Zionists.

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