Why are US politicians so focused on Israel, when voters say it’s not a priority?

Despite a strong focus on Israel in US politics, including high-profile visits by potential 2028 presidential candidates Rahm Emanuel and Rep. Ro Khanna, and its prominence in Congressional races, American voters do not prioritize Israel in open-ended surveys about their electoral concerns. Polls consistently show that domestic issues like the economy, immigration, and abortion, along with the war in Ukraine, are more important to voters. For example, an April 2024 Pew poll ranked "finding a solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians" 14th out of 22 foreign policy priorities. Even among Jewish voters, Israel is not a top voting priority, with a national survey finding only 17% named Israel as one of their top two electoral issues. However, the Israeli-Palestinian issue has become a "symbolic identity issue" for some, particularly among young progressives and the far-left, who use it as a wedge issue in Democratic primaries to galvanize a committed base, as noted by Halie Soifer, head of the Jewish Democratic Council of America.