The Trump administration has made combatting antisemitism a centerpiece of its domestic policy, focusing especially on the climate for Jewish and Israeli students at institutions of higher education. The administration’s policies to pressure university’s to adopt reforms have included severe cuts to research funding, limits on enrollment of international students, and attempts to deport pro-Palestinian activists. Perhaps surprisingly given the scope of the problem of antisemitism, Jewish communal responses to the Trump administration...
Alongside the global spread of pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli, and antisemitic narratives, fueled by the “green-red alliance” (formed between Islamists and radical leftists) in the West during the Israel–Hamas conflict, there is growing concern about the influence of the far-right movements, particularly in Europe. These movements see the war in the Gaza Strip as an opportunity to strengthen public support and promote their antisemitic ideology. It is crucial for the State of Israel to recognize the dangers posed by the far-right...
Contrary to a common misconception, antisemitism is not a new phenomenon in Iran. It predates the Islamic Revolution and even the establishment of the State of Israel. Alongside good relations between some Persians and Jews and the economic flourishing of some in
the Jewish community, and partly as an antagonistic response to those realities, anti-Jewish hatred has existed for hundreds of years in the country that has become, in today’s world, the fiercest enemy of the Jewish people.
In 2023, the level of antisemitism in Russia intensified in comparison to the previous year. Senior Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin himself, have systematically used antisemitic tropes and Holocaust distortion to promote their political interests. Statements by government representatives encouraged and legitimized antisemitic discourse in traditional media and on social networks. Following the massacre in southern Israel on October 7, the antisemitic discourse escalated even more and translated into antisemitic...
In August 2017, the Israeli-German comedian and activist Shahak Shapira spray-painted tweets containing hate speech on the pavement in front of Twitter’s European headquarters in Hamburg. Shapira had previously reported those tweets to Twitter because of their harmful content. The
social media network, however, refused to delete them, citing its free speech policy. The tweets Shapira painted on the street and sidewalk contained messages such as “Let’s unite and gas some Jews again. Those were good times,” “Another bunch of Kanaken [a...
The October 7 massacre in the western Negev and the subsequent war with Hamas have generated a notable surge in antisemitism and hatred of Israel in the United States. This phenomenon is characterized principally by a high level of hostility displayed toward Israel, numerous violent acts targeting Jews, and significant participation by younger people in protests, particularly Millennials and Generation Zers, many of whom refuse to see Israel as a victim of aggression and, rather, justify the actions of Hamas. These phenomena are...
Since October 7 and the launch of the Swords of Iron war, and against the backdrop of increased public unrest and a wave of protests branded as “pro-Palestinian,” there has been a sharp uptick in the number of antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents in the West. These demonstrations are greater in scale and intensity than ever before, though the identity of the organizers of most of them comes as no surprise. As has been the case for the past two decades, the organizers are activists in civil society organizations. Many have a patently...
The international system is struggling with many crises and challenges, led by the continued efforts at economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis while coping with the pandemic itself; the intensifying competition between the United States and China, which heightens the divisiveness in the international dynamic; and the climate crisis, which tests the ability to cooperate despite disagreements. The US administration has less attention for the Middle East, and is restoring human rights considerations to a central place in its policy,...
The strategic assessment for Israel for 2021 is shaped by significant uncertainty in three principal areas: the level of success in coping with COVID-19; the modus operandi and policies of the new administration in the United States; and the political developments in Israel. The current assessment is based on a broader conception of national security, which places greater weight than in the past on the domestic arena and on threats to internal stability, social cohesion, values, and fabric of life. This of course does not detract...
Shahar Eilam, head of the research project on contemporary antisemitism in the US at the INSS, and Tom Eshed, a research assistant with the project, examine the wave of antisemitic events in the US in May 2021, during and immediately after Israel’s Operation Guardian of the Walls. Based on these events, they analyze various and broad aspects of antisemitism in the US and their effect on the American Jewish community and on Israel.
