Yale Youth Poll – Fall 2025

Key Findings:

Key Findings (focused on Jews / Israel / Zionism / Palestinians):

1. Higher levels of antisemitic attitudes among younger voters

• Younger voters are more likely than older voters to endorse statements widely considered antisemitic.

• Among ages 18–22:

  • 30% agree Jews are more loyal to Israel than the U.S.

  • 27% agree Jews have too much power

  • 21% support boycotting Jewish-owned businesses over Gaza

• Only 57% of ages 18–22 reject all such statements (vs. 70% overall), indicating a meaningful generational gap.

2. Anti-Israel views are significantly more common among younger voters

• Younger voters are much less likely to support Israel as a Jewish state:

  • Less than 30% of voters under 30 support Israel as a Jewish state

  • 15% say Israel should not exist at all

• In contrast, 64% of voters aged 65+ support Israel as a Jewish state.

3. Strong generational divide on Zionism

• Older voters most commonly define Zionism in terms of Jewish self-determination and statehood.

• Younger voters are far more likely to adopt negative framings, such as: Zionism as “racism” or “apartheid” or Zionism as expelling Palestinians or privileging Jews over others.

• About a third of all respondents report not knowing what Zionism means.

4. Policy attitudes: shift away from Israel among young voters

• Nearly two-thirds of voters under 30 support reducing or ending U.S. military aid to Israel.

• A plurality (46%) of young voters favor completely ending aid

• Older voters are more evenly split or more supportive of maintaining aid.

5. Ambiguity and narrowing definitions of antisemitism

• Many respondents are uncertain about what constitutes antisemitism: 

  • 56% are unsure whether “globalize the intifada” is antisemitic

  • 47% say calling Gaza a “genocide” is not antisemitic

• Younger voters tend to apply narrower definitions of antisemitism, especially in Israel-related contexts.

6. Ideological patterns are not uniform

• Antisemitic attitudes appear across the political spectrum, but among young voters, “extremely conservative” respondents are most likely to agree with at least one antisemitic statement (64%).

• Some Israel-related positions (e.g., boycotts) are more common among left-leaning respondents.