Stop Blaming Israel for Antisemitism

Over the past week, I’ve given several presentations to primarily Jewish audiences, and in every single one, someone has raised the same troubling claim: that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to blame for the rise in antisemitism. Then came a viral video rant from actor Mandy Patinkin, best known for his roles in “The Princess Bride” and “Homeland,” echoing the blame-shifting I encountered in my talks: “What’s happening now in Gaza, being done in the name of defending the Jewish people, is in fact making us less safe.” 

As antisemitic incidents continue to surge in the U.S. and across the West, a disturbing narrative has gained traction: that Israel — and specifically Netanyahu — are the cause of the surge of hatred American Jews face. If only Israel would act differently, the argument goes, Jews in the Diaspora wouldn’t suffer the consequences. This view isn’t just wrongheaded; it’s extremely dangerous.

Imagine that in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, there were a nationwide spike in hate crimes against Russian-Americans. Businesses vandalized. Russian-speaking students harassed on college campuses. Social media flooded with calls to “decolonize Eastern Europe” by dismantling Russia itself. Would anyone in their right mind argue that Putin is to blame for the hatred being directed at Russian-American communities?

Of course not. We would correctly identify the problem as a moral sickness in society — a readiness to target entire communities for the actions of foreign governments. We’d see it as xenophobia, not righteous protest. And yet, when it comes to Jews and Israel, which in its case is fighting a war against a terrorist entity, the opposite logic prevails. Suddenly, the burden of responsibility for prejudice shifts from the perpetrators to the targets. We are told — by pundits, activists, and even some Jewish voices — that if antisemitism is on the rise, Israel must be doing something to provoke it.

This logic is as offensive as it is flawed. It echoes the worst impulses of victim-blaming, casting Jews as complicit in their own persecution. It also collapses under the most basic scrutiny.

The assertion that “Israel causes antisemitism” is a textbook example of a post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy — Latin for “after this, therefore because of this.” Just because one event follows another doesn’t mean the first caused the second. Yes, antisemitic incidents often spike during Israel’s military conflicts. But that doesn’t mean Israel’s actions are the root cause of antisemitism. It simply means that antisemites latch onto these moments as convenient pretexts to express hatred they already harbor.

Study after study shows that antisemitism is a persistent, global phenomenon with many ideological variants — far-right, far-left, Islamist — and a centuries-long pedigree that predates the modern State of Israel. When mobs chant “Globalize the intifada” in front of a Hillel building in response to a war 6,000 miles away, they are not making a principled political critique. They are revealing a deeper hostility, one that cannot be placated by changes in Israeli policy.

To suggest otherwise is to misunderstand the nature of bigotry. Hatred doesn’t need a reason — it needs an excuse. Antisemitism, in particular, is like the pilot light on a gas stove — it’s always burning even when you don’t see the flame. All it takes is a little fuel and it flares. And that fuel changes with the times. In the Middle Ages, it was blood libels. In the 20th century, it was Jewish bankers and Bolsheviks. Today, it’s Israel. The scapegoat evolves, but the impulse remains the same.

Hatred doesn’t need a reason—it needs an excuse.

This is not to say that Israel, like any country, is beyond criticism. A vibrant democracy, it contains multitudes: brave soldiers and peace activists, hawks and doves, triumphs and tragedies. It deserves scrutiny and debate. But the leap from policy critique to collective blame is absurd and outrageous. When Jewish students are held accountable for Gaza, when synagogues require armed guards because of events in Rafah, something has gone terribly wrong — not in Israel, but here at home.

And when we indulge the notion that diaspora Jews are legitimate targets of rage whenever Israel goes to war — particularly against a genocidal terrorist group like Hamas — we do more than just misplace blame. We normalize antisemitism. We give it intellectual cover. We turn hate into a form of social critique, and bigotry into a political statement.

American Jews are not agents of Israel. Even if they were, no disagreement over a foreign conflict justifies harassment, threats or violence against innocent civilians. To argue otherwise is to accept a moral framework in which Jews — uniquely among the peoples of the world — must earn their right to safety by controlling the actions of a nation thousands of miles away.

We would never apply this standard to any other group. We shouldn’t countenance it when it’s applied it to Jews.

David Bernstein is the Founder and CEO of the North American Values Institute (NAVI).