More Americans See Antisemitism as 'Very Serious' Issue: Poll

Most Americans see a prejudice against Jewish people as a major problem within the country today, with half of respondents to a new Gallup poll calling it a very serious issue.

"We see a pretty big jump in antisemitism," Jeff Jones, a senior editor at Gallup, told Newsweek. "Certainly things have changed a lot over these past couple years."

Gallup's data comes from telephone surveys with over 1,000 U.S. adults conducted from May 1-23. The last time the organization polled specifically about antisemitism was in 2003 when former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, who was Jewish, ran for president.

Americans are more likely today than two decades ago describe antisemitism as a problem. Nearly half of respondents now rate it as "very serious," with a combined 81% saying its either a very or somewhat serious problem.

"We often don't see changes like that, in that size," Jones said. "That's definitely significant."

This shift in concern about antisemitism shows now only 10% of Americans don't see the prejudice as "much of a problem." Fewer than one in 10 say it's "not a problem at all."

Gallup found that older Americans are far more likely than younger Americans to describe antisemitism as a very serious concern. Two-thirds of people 65 years old or over and 55% of those between 50 and 64 believe the prejudice today is very serious.

In contrast, older and younger Americans are about equally likely to believe anti-Muslim prejudice is a very serious problem.

As a whole, Americans are significantly less likely to view prejudice against Muslim people as a very serious problem (33%), according to Gallup. But the combined 74% who consider anti-Muslim prejudice to be either very or somewhat serious is closer to the 81% figure for anti-Jewish prejudice.

Politically, Democrats are expressing more concern about the treatment of Muslims than Republicans, the poll found. Republicans are more likely than Democrats, however, to describe anti-Jewish prejudice as a very serious problem.

Why now?

In recent years, there have been a number of crimes and rhetoric specifically targeted against Jewish Americans. This includes the hate-crime massacres at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 as well as in Poway, California a year later.

But anti-Jewish sentiment has boiled over since the Oct. 7 Hamas militant attacks on Israel in a surprise siege that killed 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage in the largest single loss of Jewish lives since the Holocaust.

Israel responded to the Oct. 7 attacks with an extensive bombing campaign in Gaza that has killed thousands of civilians, though confirmed numbers are hard to come by. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry puts the number of Palestinian deaths since Oct. 7 at nearly 38,000, though it does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Gallup found that Jewish Americans are far more likely than Americans as a whole to say they were treated poorly or harassed in the past year. Just a third said they have not been subject to antisemitism since the attacks.

Israel's military operation in Gaza became a flashpoint on U.S. college campuses, starting with a "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" protest at Columbia University that began on April 18. Similar demonstrations have spread to other elite schools like New York University, Princeton, Emerson College and the University of Southern California.

Mistreatment

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said more than a dozen colleges, including Harvard, were "failing" to protect students, while an additional 53 had "deficient approaches" or "corrections needed."

"We are experiencing a tsunami of anti-Jewish hate so severe it is drawing the attention of those at the highest levels of our state and federal governments," ADL CEO Jonathan Green said this week at the launch of a new initiative called "UnMaskHate New York."

"Our houses of worship, our communities, our students on campuses like Columbia, have experienced intimidation, harassment, marginalization, threats, and violence."

That goes hand-in-hand with Gallup's finding that one in four Americans say they have felt reluctant to share their religious affiliations with others because of poor treatment or harassment.

"I think the data on reports of mistreatment and harassment are pretty significant," Jones said. "That's always something that you hear about. Historically there's always been reports of antisemitic incidents."

A majority of Jewish people say they've received poor treatment online (80%), in their community (82%) and from local leaders (61%), according to Gallup. They are less likely to say they have been mistreated by family (14%), coworkers (21%) or friends (27%).

"I did find that notable," Jones said. "The fear is real...even among people who haven't received mistreatment."

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