New ADL Survey Documents Alarming Rise in Antisemitic Beliefs Among US Voters

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Thursday published the “shocking” results of its latest survey revealing that nearly one quarter of Americans, especially younger voters, endorse antisemitic beliefs.

The study conducted by the Jewish civil rights organization’s Center for Antisemitism Research found that 24 percent of respondents endorsed six or more antisemitic tropes — a rise on the 20 percent who answered similarly during the last survey in 2022.

Two of the total number of 11 tropes — which include such statements as “Jews do not share my values” and “Jews don’t care what happens to anyone but their own kind — were endorsed by more than half of respondents.

Asked whether “Jews stick together more than other Americans,” 67 percent expressed agreement, while 54 percent concurred with the claim that “Jews in business go out of their way to hire other Jews.”

A full 45 percent of respondents believed that “Jews are more loyal to Israel than America.” Cruder, more classic antisemitic notions, for example that Jews are “unfriendly,” “dishonest” or disproportionately powerful, garnered the agreement of between 10 and 30 percent of respondents.

“After decades of antisemitism mostly keeping to the fringes of society, it is shocking to see the number of Americans who openly hold antisemitic beliefs increase so significantly in recent years,” Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL’s CEO, declared in an accompanying statement. “And the sharp reversal, from older generations to younger generations being more likely to hold antisemitic beliefs, is a terrifying concern for our future. The need for better solutions is more urgent than ever – before this dangerous momentum keeps growing.”

Among younger voters, Millennials are the most amenable to antisemitic falsehoods, with members of this demographic endorsing 5.4 of the 11 tropes, compared with 5 for Generation Z, 4.2 for Generation X and 3.1 for Baby Boomers.

Respondents who indicated that “they have friends or family who support Hamas or dislike Jews are more likely to agree with a high number of anti-Jewish tropes than those who do not, confirming the power of social norms,” Matt Williams of the Center for Antisemitism Research noted.

The study also reaffirmed that belief in conspiracy theories is one of the main predictive factors of antisemitic attitudes and beliefs. Researchers found that 33 percent of respondents at least somewhat agree with the statement that Israeli operatives are manipulating U.S. national policy, and 30 percent at least somewhat believe that Israel controls the media.

Additionally, the ADL also found that found that “conspiracy theory belief continues to be one of the main correlates of anti-Jewish beliefs, with those who fall in the upper quartile of conspiracy theories belief endorsing 3.8 more tropes, on average, than those with the least conspiracy theory belief.”

However, support for the right of an independent Jewish state to exist was “overwhelming,” the ADL said. Nearly 90 percent of respondents said they disagreed with the statement “I do not think Jews have the right to an independent country.”

Asked whether they would vote for a pro-Israel politician, 24 percent of respondents answered negatively, while 21 percent said they would not “feel comfortable buying products from Israel.”

 

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