Global Survey Reveals Nearly Half of Adults Hold Antisemitic Beliefs

antisemitism (Shutterstock) (Shutterstock)

The survey shows Palestinian-controlled territories in Judea-Samaria, and Gaza with a 97% index score, placing them with Kuwait (97%) and Indonesia (96%) as the most antisemitic populations.

By JNS

A new survey released by the Anti-Defamation League shows nearly half of the global population holds elevated levels of antisemitic attitudes.

The Global 100 poll found that an estimated 2.2 billion people, representing 46% of the world’s adults, “harbor deeply entrenched antisemitic attitudes,” the ADL stated.

That figure is double the level from a decade ago and the highest on record since the group monitoring Jew-hatred began examining worldwide trends.

Through its polling partners, including Ipsos, the ADL surveyed more than 58,000 adults from 103 countries, covering some 94% of the world’s adult population, with responses solicited between July 23 and Nov. 13, 2024.

Alarmingly, the survey revealed that one-fifth of respondents have not heard about the Holocaust with only 48% recognizing the historical accuracy of the mass-murder operation to eradicate European Jewry.

That figure of recognizing the accuracy of the Holocaust fell to just 16% among respondents in the Middle East.

That figure falls under 40% among 18- to 34-year-olds—a demographic among which some 50% overall hold antisemitic sentiments. Forty percent of that age category also agreed that “Jews are responsible for most of the world’s wars.”

The antisemitic figures among the younger generation were noticeably worse than their elders in many categories.

“We live in a world in which a literal modern-day pogrom can take place in the streets of a major Western European capital, unchecked for hours, and in the aftermath, we are gaslit and told that what happened was something we imagined or blamed for the act in the first place,” Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL national director and CEO, said on a conference call on Tuesday coinciding with the survey’s release.

“While tracking antisemitic incidents is an essential way to measure antisemitism, it’s by no means the only way negative attitudes towards Jews—in agreement with age-old antisemitic tropes—have been a crucial pillar that the ADL uses to assess overall levels of anti-Jewish prejudice within a country,” Greenblatt added. “It is a key factor that impacts how free a Jewish person feels to live openly and express their identity, whatever that looks like for them.”

Twenty-nine percent of those younger than 35 expressed favorable opinions of the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip, higher than the overall mark of 23%.

The survey shows Palestinian-controlled territories in Judea Samaria, and Gaza, with a 97% index score, placing them with Kuwait (97%) and Indonesia (96%) as the most antisemitic populations.

Those with the lowest Index Scores are Sweden (5%), Norway (8%), Canada (8%) and the Netherlands (8%).

That may seem surprising after Norway approved Palestinian statehood last year; Canada saw higher instances of antisemitic instances over previous years; and Amsterdam was rocked by what many construed as a modern-day pogrom in November.

The Middle East and North Africa (76%) received particularly high index scores, with Asia (51%), Eastern Europe (49%) and Sub-Saharan Africa (45%) not far behind. The Americas (24%), Oceania (20%) and Western Europe (17%) showed lower levels of antisemitic sentiment, though the ADL says even those raw figures are concerning.

‘A pretext for bigots’

The Global 100 data serves to inform governments about what actions they can take to reverse worrying trends, according to the ADL, as the survey measured the number of respondents who believe in six or more of 11 negative stereotypes about Jews to be definitely or probably true.

“Governments need to speak out clearly and forcefully—need to speak out repeatedly—and leaders must call out antisemitism wherever and whenever it occurs, particularly when it happens within the ranks of their own party or partisan group,” Greenblatt said, advocating for additional protections for Jewish communities, stronger hate-crime laws, and more widespread and diversified Holocaust education.

The survey also posed other questions related to Jews and Israel with 71% of respondents saying their country should have diplomatic relationships with Israel and 75% encouraging their countries to welcome Israeli tourists.

A little more than two-thirds said they don’t think that their country should boycott Israeli products and businesses.

“Governments can count on the support of an encouraging majority (57%) of respondents globally who recognize that hate towards Jews is a serious problem in the world. This also holds true for a majority of respondents across all seven geographical regions, age groups, education levels, and political orientations,” the ADL said.

JNS asked Greenblatt whether the ADL anticipated some figures to fall after the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza or whether that was unlikely given the upward trends among younger respondents.

“I don’t think we know the answer to that. Antisemitism was rising, so in some ways, it’s fair to say that we created a pretext for bigots,” he replied, referring to the many who used the Hamas-led terrorist attacks and atrocities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, to “throw fuel on the fire.”

“I think we need to reserve judgment and take a bit of a wait-and-see approach, even as we, as they say, hope for the best and prepare for the worst,” he said.