Half the world holds 'significantly antisemitic' views according to new survey
In new research conducted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a shocking 46% of adults were found to ascribe to significantly antisemitic beliefs. ADL chief Jonathan Greenblatt described the findings as a “global emergency.”
Perhaps just as shocking was the discovery that of all the 18 middle eastern countries surveyed, Iran was the least antisemitic in the region.
With almost half of the world’s adults holding “deeply entrenched” antisemitic views, the poll marks the highest levels of antisemitism since these ADL surveys began over ten years ago, according to YNet. Considered to be the most comprehensive of its kind, the 2024 Global 100 survey polled more than 58,000 adults from 103 countries and regions, representing 94% of the world’s adult population. The ADL reports that 2.2 billion adults globally now agree with the majority of the antisemitic tropes in the survey.
The research was undertaken in coordination with Ipsos and other research partners, measuring antisemitic attitudes using an index of questions around negative Jewish stereotypes. Respondents were asked how much they agreed with statements such as “Jews are responsible for most of the world’s wars”, “People hate Jews because of the way Jews behave,” “Jews have a lot of irritating faults,” or that they have too much control over global affairs, the media, or the business world. Those who say 6 or more out of the statements are “probably true” or “definitely true” are considered to hold elevated levels of antisemitic attitudes.
In addition to gauging negative attitudes to Jewish people, the ADL also looks at antisemitic incidents, government policies and other factors.
The first ADL Global Index survey in 2014 revealed that just over a quarter, 26% of adults, were “deeply infected with anti-Semitic attitudes.” The questions in 2014 were slightly different and the sample size was smaller but those with “elevated levels” of antisemitism appear to have doubled over the past decade, representing a 108% increase. “I don’t have the words to adequately describe how dangerous this spike is,” Greenblatt said.
The younger generation seems to hold even more antisemitic views than older generations. While a shocking 23% expressed favorable opinions toward Hamas, the level rises to 29% among respondents under 35 years of age. In general, those under 35 were found to hold antisemitic views at higher rates (50%) in comparison with those over the age of 50 (37%).
Astonishingly, one in five respondents globally had never heard of the Holocaust, and a shockingly low number (48%) recognized the Holocaust as historical fact. Among those between the ages of 18 to 34, that percentage drops to just 39%. That number drops even further to just 16% among respondents from the Middle East and North Africa where Holocaust denial is more prevalent.
Greenblatt blamed the high levels of Jew-hatred in the Middle East on Arabic language Al Jazeera news network which he described as a “nonstop fountain of antisemitism,” suggesting that the lower levels of animosity in Iran were due to the population consuming media in Farsi rather than Arabic.
However, Ramin Parsa, an Iranian who now lives with his Israeli wife in Jerusalem said there were broader reasons for the softer attitudes to Israel in Iran. He told ALL ISRAEL NEWS:
“For years the Islamic regime painted Israel as illegitimate, oppressive occupiers. But when the people of Iran saw that the Islamic regime is doing to them what the regime was accusing Israel of, they realized that Israel must be good because the regime hates them and Hamas must not be good because the regime supports them.”
“They realize that Israel is the victim of the same Islamic terrorism that the people of Iran have been at the hands of their own regime,” he said, adding, “every time Israel eliminated an IRGC commander, the people in Iran felt avenged. The Iranian people root for Israel to win over the same people who have been oppressing them for more than four decades. Millions have embraced Christianity and look to a day when Israel and Iran would be friends again. We pray for this to happen.”
Jo Elizabeth has a great interest in politics and cultural developments, studying Social Policy for her first degree and gaining a Masters in Jewish Philosophy from Haifa University, but she loves to write about the Bible and its primary subject, the God of Israel. As a writer, Jo spends her time between the UK and Jerusalem, Israel.
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