Researchers at the Jewish People Policy Institute’s Information Center analyzed a large database containing nearly 200,000 publications (newsletters and public updates) issued by members of Congress and the Senate since 2009.
Working with such datasets, using advanced analytical tools, enables the formulation of data-driven policy recommendations rather than relying solely on general impressions. The new study analyzed publications from the past year within this database.
Comparing the volume of references related to Israel and antisemitism across all publications by elected officials over the past year revealed significant gaps between the letters of Republican representatives and those of Democrats, particularly following the period of October 7th.
Republicans mention terms such as “Israel,” “hostages,” and “antisemitism” far more frequently in their public updates than their Democratic counterparts.
There are large gaps between Democratic and Republican members of Congress and senators in their public engagement with issues related to Israel, antisemitism, the war, and the Iranian threat. Republicans mention words such as ‘Israel,’ ‘hostages,’ and ‘antisemitism’ far more frequently in their public updates to constituents, compared with their Democratic counterparts.
In the first two weeks following October 7th, members of both parties frequently mentioned Israel in their publications; however, Republican representatives mentioned Israel significantly more often. This gap in mentions of Israel was also reflected during significant milestones throughout the war. For instance, in the two weeks following the Iranian attack on Israel, Republicans mentioned Israel twice as often as Democrats.
Significant gaps were also found regarding the topic of antisemitism, peaking in citation volume during the campus protests in April 2024, when elected Republicans addressed the issue more than twice as much as their Democratic colleagues. It is readily apparent that this discrepancy is evident in other months as well.
The gap is also significant regarding the attitude toward Iran. From the very beginning of the war, Republican representatives mentioned Iran frequently in their publications, whereas Democrats mentioned Iran very little. During April, around the time of the Iranian attack on Israel, there was indeed an increase in Democratic engagement with the topic of Iran in their publications, yet a significant gap remained between the representatives of the two parties.
Explanation regarding the data source and analysis method
The letters come from the DCinbox database, which includes publications (bulletins, etc.) from members of Congress/Senate to their supporters who signed up to receive updates (newsletters), starting from 2009 (to date, the database includes about 190,000 publications).
The database was founded by an American technological institute (Lindsey Cormack, Stevens Institute of Technology), and it allows researchers and academic entities to conduct various studies on the database content.
In the JPPI analysis, mentions of the words: Israel, hostages, antisemitism, and Iran were examined within the various publications.
The study was conducted by researchers Eli Kanai and Shlomi Barzanik, from the Glazer Information Center at the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI).
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