A view of the stage at the 2019 AIPAC conference in Washington, D.C. Photo by Cheriss May/Nur via Getty Images

(JTA) — The majority of American Jews oppose the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC spending funds raised from Republican donors in Democratic primaries, according to a new survey released Tuesday.

The survey, which was conducted by GBAO Strategies on behalf of the liberal pro-Israel lobby J Street, comes as AIPAC has faced heightened scrutiny for pouring millions of dollars into Democratic primary races in New Jersey and Illinois in recent months with the aim of electing a majority pro-Israel Congress.

Candidates’ rejection of AIPAC support has become a litmus test for many Democrats, and a number of presumed 2028 presidential candidates have sworn off AIPAC, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.

Last week, the Democratic National Committee rejected a vote on a resolution that would have condemned AIPAC specifically, instead advancing a resolution that condemned “dark money” more broadly in electoral politics.

In a statement Monday, the Union For Reform Judaism criticized the negative focus on AIPAC, writing that it was “deeply concerned by efforts to single out AIPAC as a particularly malign influence in campaign finance.”

The organization joined others that have pegged the focus on AIPAC as antisemitic.

“Every candidate has the right to accept or reject funding from any PAC, including AIPAC’s, but the harsh language being used by some to denigrate and vilify AIPAC borders on — and in some instances crosses over into — antisemitism,” the URJ said, adding that it was “pleased” the DNC’s resolution failed.

The survey, which included interviews with 800 Jewish adults from March 23 to 25 and had a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points, found that, overall, 66% of American Jews oppose the lobby spending money raised from Republican donors in Democratic primaries, while 34% said they supported it.

Support for the spending was largely split along partisan lines, with 87% of Jewish Democrats opposing the spending while 89% of Republicans supported it. (Among Jews aged 18 to 34, 74% said they opposed the spending.)

The survey also asked Democratic respondents whether an AIPAC endorsement of a candidate in a Democratic primary would make them more or less likely to support them.

Overall, 40% of Jewish Democrats said it would make them less likely to support the candidate, while 47% said it would make no difference and 13% said they would be more likely to support them.

Among Democratic Jews aged 18 to 34, two-thirds said they are less likely to vote for a Democratic primary candidate endorsed by AIPAC.

The survey was released one week after another conducted by the Mellman Group and commissioned by the Jewish Electorate Institute found that a majority of American Jews have “not heard much” about the role that pro-Israel lobbying groups have played in this year’s early midterm primaries.

The poll, which surveyed 800 registered Jewish voters March 13-23, found that just 11% of American Jews had heard a “great deal” about “the role pro-Israel groups have played in the early 2026 primaries,” while 27% said they’d heard “some” about it.

Meanwhile, 62% said they’d either heard “not much,” “none at all” or that they don’t know.

In a release that accompanied the survey, the groups suggested that, based on its results, outsized attention had been given to the involvement of pro-Israel groups like AIPAC.

“Despite the media coverage of the involvement of pro-Israel groups in the recent primaries, few Jews have been following this closely,” the release reads.

The survey found that AIPAC is viewed favorably by 39% of American Jews and unfavorably by 29%, with the rest being unsure. Among Jewish Democrats, opinion skews against AIPAC, with 37% having an unfavorable opinion and 29% favorable.

The poll also revealed a partisan split around pro-Israel groups’ tactics: 46% of Democrats agreed that “these heavy-handed efforts by pro-Israel groups in primary elections make things worse by turning voters against a strong US-Israel relationship, and they should stop.”

But another 28% of Democrats said that it is “more important than ever” for those groups to be taking action to elect pro-Israel candidates.

Overall, 39% of respondents said the efforts were “more important than ever” while 37% said pro-Israel groups’ efforts makes things worse.

The Jewish Electorate Institute survey also asked respondents their views on Israel and its government, with 86% saying they are “pro-Israel,” and 63% saying they identify as both pro-Israel and critical of Israeli government’s policies.

The survey found that just one-third self-identify as Zionists, despite 55% having a “favorable view” of Zionism. That closely matches the findings of a survey conducted earlier this year by the Jewish Federations of North America.

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Make a matched gift today.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT