image Photo: Reuters

Anti-Jewish beliefs double in US

The disturbing find comes amid a rise in reports of anti-Semitic acts across the United States.

By Erin Viner

A recent poll of Americans conducted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) revealed that belief in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and tropes has nearly doubled since 2019.

The New York-based civil rights organization found that a vast majority of those questioned agreed with at least one negative inanities about Jews.

The survey of 4,000 people was taken in the autumn of 2022, who were asked if 14 statements with which they were provided were “Mostly/Somewhat True” or “Mostly/Somewhat False.” Subject matter included allegations that Jews are too powerful, selfish, “foreign” and insular.

Results showed that about 85% of the respondents believed at least one anti-Jewish stereotype – compared with 61% in 2019. A stunning 20% said that six or more of the prejudicial statements about the Jewish People – reflecting a substantial increase over the 11% who voiced such support in 2019.

Reports of anti-Semitic assault, vandalism and intimidation have risen nationwide, reaching a 42-year high in 2021, said the ADL.

According to the Bloomberg media company, a Socius academic journal survey published last year revealed that over 50% of Jews experienced discrimination at work in a survey of 11,356 employees of all faiths; and that a November 2022 poll of commissioned by ResumeBuilder.revealed that almost 25% of 1,131 hiring managers and recruiters said they not only wanted fewer Jewish people in their industry but admitted they are less likely to advance Jewish applicants due to belief, in part, that “Jewish people have too much power and wealth.”

About 39% of the respondents in the ADL survey believed Jews were more loyal to Israel than the United States.

This dual-loyalty trope has been particularly underscored by former US Republican President Donald Trump. In 2019 he asserted that Jewish Democrats were “being very disloyal to Israel, warned the  US Jewish community should “get their act together” before “it is too late!” while just ahead of the November 2022 elections, he repeated the historical anti-Jewish slur and common conspiracy theory that Israel once held “absolute power over Congress” during an interview with Israeli journalist Barak Ravid. After hosting a known white supremacist Nick Fuentes and notorious anti-Semitic rapper Kanye West at his private Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in December 2022, Trump claimed, “No President has done more for Israel than I have” in a posted on his Truth Social media platform  adding, “Jewish leaders forgot that I was the best, by far, President for Israel. They should be ashamed of themselves. This lack of loyalty to their greatest friends and allies is why large numbers in Congress, and so many others, have stopped giving support to Israel.”

West, who renamed himself “Ye,” was booted from social media and lost lucrative business endorsements after gaining notoriety last year for threatening Jews and praising World War II Nazi Führer Adolf Hitler. The remarks led to visible hate speech by others, including the appearance of enormous banners in Los Angeles and elsewhere, reading:  “Kanye is right about the Jews.”

The White House addressed rising anti-Semitism in a roundtable event with Jewish leaders in December 2022, when President Biden established an inter-agency group to coordinate efforts to anti-Jewish acts.