Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war is a political test in South Florida’s Jewish community

Located just north of Miami Beach, the Shul of Bal Harbour is in the heart of South Florida’s Jewish community. Its rabbi is a well-known supporter of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who has long supported conservative priorities on Israel and spoken at the Shul.

But in potentially unfriendly territory for Democrats, several people who attended the meeting said they were pleased President Joe Biden’s support of the Israeli offensive against Gaza.

“I think he has sent a strong message, and that is very important,” said Georg Lipsztein, a member of the congregation. “Israel is going to do what it has to do.”

This swath of South Florida used to be a Democratic stronghold but has moved to the right, helping former President Donald Trump win the state in 2020 and DeSantis coast to a huge re-election win last year and flipping Miami-Dade County, long key to Democratic strength in the state. If Florida is to regain its status as a perennially competitive state, how Jewish voters perceive Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war will be critical.

Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack killing more than 1,400 Israeli civilians evoked feelings of deep frustration, grief and anger among American Jews.

“The comfort and the resolve that he’s demonstrated has been really critical at a time when people are really just desperate,” said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Biden surrogate who represents suburbs south of Fort Lauderdale. “I’ve never seen in my 30 years of public service this magnitude of pain, shock and anger burning in the hearts of all Jews.”

In 2016, Democrats had about 327,000 more registered voters in the state. The GOP now has about 626,000 more registered voters.

In South Florida, rabbis and community leaders are pushing their congregations to call their lawmakers and insist they back Israel as it ramps up its offensive. In Michigan, another swing state, many Arab-American and Muslim communities are angry about the Biden administration’s response as Israel’s offensive has resulted in thousands of Palestinian deaths.

And some Democrats are concerned about younger voters who polls show have greater sympathy for Palestinian concerns than the party’s older and more centrist voters.

The administration is having to strike “a delicate balance of showing support for Israel rhetorically and militarily but trying to prevent the humanitarian crisis in Gaza from getting out of control,” said Eric Lob, a Florida International University professor and non-resident scholar at the Washington-based think tank Middle East Institute.

About 43% of Florida’s Jewish voters supported Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, compared with 30% of Jewish voters who supported him nationwide, according to AP VoteCast. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won 45% of Jewish voters in his re-election, when he flipped traditionally Democratic Miami-Dade County while also winning a majority of Latino voters statewide.

An estimated 525,000 Jews live in Miami’s metropolitan area which includes Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach, according to the American Jewish Population Project at Brandeis University.

Jacob Solomon, president of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, said South Florida has a large Orthodox community along with immigrants from Central and South America for whom English is not a first language.