20% of Americans Believe In At Least Six Antisemitic Tropes, ADL Report Says

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released a report on January 12 finding that 20% of Americans believe at least six antisemitic tropes.

That 20% figure was higher than the 11% figure the ADL found in 2019; additionally, the report found that 85% of Americans believe in at least one antisemitic trope, an increase from 61% in 2019. Such tropes included the belief that Jews are more loyal to Israel than the Unites States (39%), Jews stick together more than other Americans (70%), and that Jews have too much power in the world of business (26%). 

The report also found that 24% of Americans hold at least one anti-Israel sentiment; for instance, 40% of Americans believe that Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians is similar to how the Nazis treated the Jews, 24% don’t believe that Israel is a force for good in the world and 18% don’t feel comfortable being around a pro-Israel individual. Additionally, 21% of young Americans hold “significantly more anti-Israel sentiments” than older adults (11%).  

The report concluded that there was a “substantive correlation … between belief in anti-Jewish tropes and anti-Israel sentiment.”

ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt further discussed the organization’s research in a January 13 op-ed for The Hill, noting that belief in antisemitic tropes has “led to violence.” “The notion of Jewish control of government, for example, fueled the horrifying antisemitic attacks in Pittsburgh and Poway, Calif., as well as the hostage crisis that unfolded a year ago in Colleyville, Texas,” Greenblatt wrote.

He added toward the end of his op-ed that “antisemitism does not emanate from a single source and there is no magic wand that we can wave to stop it.” “We need leaders from all segments of society to speak out against it. And more than anything, leaders need to meet the occasion by showing a willingness not only to condemn the other side’s role in surging antisemitism, but their own as well,” Greenblatt wrote.