Research data – Anti-Israel & Anti-Semitic hate & violence

Compiled and edited by Jon Sutz, founder of ILoveIsrael.me



Contents

(1) For nearly 20 years, surveys throughout the world show that Israel is viewed as a top threat to peace, and is among four nations that are having the most “negative influences” on the world

(2) Increasing general anti-Semitic hatred & hate crimes

(3) Spiking anti-Semitic hate crimes & harassment on college and high school campuses, much of which is driven by anti-Israel hatred

(4) Strong support for Israel in America is being reversed, at a lightning rate — even among Jews & evangelical Christians

(5) UN bias & incitement against Israel

(6) BONUS 1: Americans’ lack of knowledge of, and misperceptions regarding the Holocaust

(7) BONUS 2: Slide show: “How big is Israel, compared, to the rest of world?”

Graffiti on the FDR Drive in New York city spotted September 2021 (h/t @stopantisemites via Bari Weiss).


(1) For nearly 20 years, surveys throughout the world show that Israel is viewed as a top threat to peace, and is among four nations that are having the most “negative influences” on the world

Israel has been ranked last in the 2024 Nation Brands Index (NBI), placing it among the world’s most underdeveloped and unstable countries, according to the report published by Anholt Nation Brands Index on Tuesday. The findings, based on a comprehensive survey conducted between July and August 2024, highlight a growing global sentiment that perceives Israel as a destabilizing force rather than an innovative and progressive nation. […] According to the NBI report, Israel performed poorly across all categories, particularly among younger respondents, with Generation Z overwhelmingly ranking it at the bottom.

  • 2014-2017: Annual surveys conducted in 22 nations showed Israel is viewed as one of the four nations having the most “negative influence” on the world (the others being Iran, North Korea and Pakistan).
  • 2014: A worldwide survey revealed that Israel is viewed as one of the “biggest threats to peace” —  alongside Iran, North Korea and Afghanistan.
  • Surveys conducted in 15 European nations in 2008 and 2003 showed the same result: Israel is viewed as the #1 “threat to world peace.”


(2) Increasing general anti-Semitic hatred & hate crimes

  • October 2024: Nearly all anti-Semitic hate crimes and incidents were perpetrated by radical leftists and radical Islamists, a fact that is consistently reported via the Combat Antisemitism Movement.

  • October 2024: 21% of American GenZers believe “Adolf Hitler had ‘some good ideas.”
  • October 2024: Anti-Semitic incidents in the UK doubled since the 10/7 attack.
  • From 2022-2023, France experienced a 1,000% increase in hate crimes against Jews.

  • May 2024: 30% of American Jews now believe Israel is committing “genocide” against Palestinians.
  • March 2024: 27% of Americans would consider it “at least somewhat acceptable” for a close family member to support the Hamas; 23% of Americans have a close friend or family member who “dislikes Jews.”
  • February 2024: The the number of Americans with antisemitic attitudes has more than doubled in just 5 years.
  • January 2024: 35% of Americans say Israel is committing “genocide” against the Palestinians; 36% say it isn’t. 49% of Americans age 18-29 say Israel is committing “genocide”; 24% disagree.
  • December 2023: 51% of Americans age 18-24 say, “Israel should be ended, and given to Hamas and the Palestinians,” as do 31% of 25-34 year-olds.
  • October 2023: 50% of American 18-34 year olds say Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack against Israel was “justified.”
  • 2023: 53% of Americans age 18-24 say if a student calls for the genocide of Jews, the school’s administrators should affirm they are free to do so, without consequence.
  • 2023: 48% of American college students do not blame Hamas for the October 7 terrorist attack.
  • 2023: Germany’s top federal law enforcement official in combating anti-Semitism claims there are five times as many hate crimes than are being reported.  Excerpt:

“[O]nly 20 percent of the antisemitic crimes are reported, so the real number should be five times what we have — 25 incidents per day.” Many victims of antisemitism were, he said, reluctant to report their ordeals “because they feel it won’t change anything or because they had a bad experience with police officers who think that Jews exaggerate.”

  • 2023: “More than four in ten Jews in the United States feel their status in America is less secure than it was a year ago.”
  • January 2023: 40% of Americans believe the statement, “Israel treats Palestinians like the Nazis treated Jews,” is accurate. Other recent surveys reveal that 65% of people in Greece, 35% in Spain, 29% in the Netherlands, and 26% in Sweden, agree.
  • 2023: “According to the comprehensive research carried out by the (Israeli) Diaspora Affairs Ministry, 68% of antisemitic discourse on social media is from Palestinian or progressive pro-Palestinian circles.”
  • 2022: A new report by Americans Against Anti-Semitism found that 97% of anti-Jewish hate crimes in New York were committed by other minorities — 69% of whom are black.

Flashback: How do UC-Berkeley students react to the ISIS flag, vs the Israeli flag?  In 2014, guerilla filmmaker Ami Horowitz made this 3-minute video to document UC-Berkeley students’ reactions to him waving the ISIS flag, vs the Israeli flag.  This helps to put the data in this section into context:

  • 2023: Data from the first five months of 2023 shows Jews were far and away the #1 target of hate crimes in NYC, with more than 20 hate crimes against Jews for every one that’s reported against Muslims.

  • 2022: Report shows the French government all but refuses to acknowledge Muslim anti-Semitism as motive in rising violent crimes against Jews.
  • 2022: Toronto police report that while hate crimes grew by 23% from 2020-21, Jews remain the most-targeted victim group. 75% of the hate crimes motivated by religion targeted Jews.
  • 2022: The ADL reports that between 2020-21, there was a 34% increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the US, and the highest number of such incidents since it began tracking such statistics.
  • 2010-2022: Even though there are about the same number of Jews and Muslims in America, the number of reported anti-Muslim hate crimes remained virtually flat, as of 2022 there are nearly 7x as many hate crimes against Jews:

  • 2022: 60% of Israelis hide their religion when traveling abroad, 62% think Israel’s government should take firmer action against global anti-Semitism.
  • 2022: Hate crimes against Jews in NYC jumped by 275% – in one year.
  • 2022: Anti-Semitic incidents in France jumped 75% – in one year.
  • 2021: A survey revealed that strong minorities of Europeans believe there is “a secret Jewish network that influences political and economic affairs in the world,” that “Jews will never be able to fully integrate into society,” and that “Jews exploit Holocaust victimhood for their own purposes.” (JNS)
  • 2021: 35% of people in Spain, 29% in the Netherlands, and 26% in Sweden, agreed with the statement, “Israelis behave ‘like Nazis’ towards the Palestinians.”
  • May 2021: “Antisemitic incidents more than doubled during the Hamas conflict.” (ABC News)
  • May 2021: “In 2019, the ADL recorded more than 2,100 cases of assault, vandalism and harassment against Jews across the U.S., the most since tracking began in 1979.” (NPR)
  • March 2021: 63% of American Jews “have either experienced or heard antisemitic comments, slurs or threats targeting others, an increase from 54% a year earlier… 9% indicated they had been physically attacked in the last five years because they are Jewish” (ADL)
  • 2020: “Jews only make up 2% of the American population, yet they are the targets of over 60% of all religion-based hate crimes.” (AJC)
  • 2020: 20% of those surveyed Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Poland claim a “Jewish cabal” runs the world; 24% believe Israel’s policies make them understand why some people hate Jews.
  • 2020: In Canada, there are now more hate crimes perpetrated against Jews than against any other victim group, religious or non-religious.
  • 2019: There were more hate crimes perpetrated against Jews in America than at any time since the ADL began tallying such incidents, in 1979. (Note: The vast majority of these crimes are not perpetrated by white nationalists or right-wingers; as stated by the head of the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force in November 2018, “During the past 22 months, not one person caught or identified as the aggressor in an anti-Semitic hate crime has been associated with a far right-wing group.”).
  • 2019: 19% of Americans surveyed said small businesses should have the right to refuse service to Jews if doing so would violate the owners’ religious beliefs. In 2014, only 12% agreed.
  • 2018: In New York, Jews were not only the #1 targeted group for religiously-motivated hate crimes in 2018, there were more hate crimes perpetrated against Jews than against all other minority groups – religious and non-religious — combined.
  • 2018: In Los Angeles, Jews were targeted more than 12 times as often as Muslims in religiously-motivated hate crimes. (Los Angeles County Commission Hate Crime Report; p.35)
  • 2018: 38% of all Americans (including 55% of Democrats, and 44% of those under 35 years old) believe the Israeli government has “too much influence” on U.S. politics and policies.
  • 2016: In the UK, Anti-Semitism at highest level on record.  Excerpt:Anti-Semitism in the UK reached “unprecedented” levels in 2016, after a rise of 36 percent in the number of incidents.Following Thursday’s release of its annual figures, the Community Security Trust (CST) said there were now more than twice as many anti-Semitic incidents per month than four years ago, with the level of hatred eclipsing that seen during the Gaza War in 2014.While charity bosses said incidents were now far more likely to be reported, they were nevertheless left gobsmacked by the huge and sustained increase, with 1,309 incidents reported last year – the highest on record. This compares to 960 incidents in 2015 and 1,182 the year before, when Israel launched military action against militant groups in the Gaza Strip, provoking a strong backlash against Jewish communities across the world, something the charity called a “trigger event”.
  • 2014: ADL survey finds The Middle East is the most anti-Semitic region on earth, with 93% of Palestinians holding anti-Semitic beliefs, and over a quarter of those surveyed around the world hold anti-Semitic attitudes.

From Clifton, NJ. Source: ‘Israelis Are New Nazis’: Paterson Hookah Shop Posts Anti-Israel Sign With Swastika, South Passaic Daily Voice, June 13, 2021.


(3) Spiking anti-Semitic hate crimes & harassment on college and high school campuses, much of which is driven by anti-Israel hatred

  • 2024: 78 Percent of US Jews Feel ‘Less Safe’ in Wake of Hamas Pogrom, New Survey Finds, The Algemeiner, February 13, 2024. Excerpt: “A new survey released on Tuesday by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) found that 78 percent of respondents felt more insecure following the pogrom executed by Hamas terrorists, in which more than 1,200 people were murdered and over 200 taken hostage amid atrocities that included mass rape and mutilation of victims.The survey — conducted for the AJC’s “2023 State of Antisemitism Report” — also revealed that 63 percent of American Jews believe that their overall status in the US is “less safe,” compared with 41 percent in 2022 and 31 percent in 2021. The AJC has been carrying out the annual survey since 2019.Some incidents impacted people mourning friends or relatives who lost their lives during the Hamas atrocities. “I was at an outdoor vigil mourning the murdered Israelis and three separate times, people drove past yelling out their car window ‘Kill them all’ among other things,” one respondent recalled.”
  • 2023: Anti-Israel campus activism nearly doubled in one year. Excerpt: “A new report from the Anti-Defamation League shows an uptick in activism against the State of Israel and its student advocates. […]The report names Students for Justice in Palestine as “the largest and most active campus anti-Israel group in the U.S.,” which “appeared to be less restrained in expressing support for U.S. State Department-designated terrorist organizations and individuals who are known to have killed Israelis.” Among anti-Zionist campus events, the ADL writes that they ”featured sessions advocating for BDS, promoting anti-Zionism or propagating the idea that Israel is an apartheid state akin to apartheid South Africa.”
  • 2023: Nearly 60% of US Jewish college students experience or witness antisemitism. Excerpt: Some 57% of US Jewish students have encountered or witnessed antisemitic incidents according to a survey. Nearly one-third of the students surveyed (29%) have witnessed or experienced an antisemitic incident on campus at their college/university, with 44% witnessing such incidents in public spaces. These findings underscore the alarming prevalence of antisemitism within educational institutions and the broader public.The survey, conducted by Ipsos, was released by Jewish on Campus, a nonprofit organization founded by Jewish students to support Jewish students, and the World Jewish Congress.
  • 2023: Jerusalem Post: “Majority of Jewish Australian students hide identity at universities.” Excerpt: “Sixty-four percent of Australian Jewish university students reported experiencing antisemitism during their academic journey, according to a new survey that was published on Monday. One out of every five students has actively avoided campus to escape bigotry, while more than half have felt the distressing need to hide their Jewish identity, the survey said.”

  • 2022: Times of Israel: “US students report jump in mental scarring from campus antisemitism, but see no end.” Excerpt: “Jewish students across the United States report being excluded from campus organizations, targeted on social media and harassed in classes by students and professors alike. Additionally, they’ve seen dormitories and sidewalks vandalized with swastikas, and buildings plastered with flyers that equate Birthright trips to Israel with genocide and call for Zionists to “fuck off.” Yet, often lost in the coverage of these incidents is the emotional toll they take on the Jewish students.”
  • 2022: Assaults on Jewish students and their identity doubled in the 2021 to 2022 academic year.  The overwhelming majority of the hatred against Jewish students on college campuses, and assaults against them, are motivated by hatred of Israel.
  • 2022: Jerusalem Post: “Alarming rise in American Jewish children’s complaints of antisemitism at [high] school.” Excerpt: “I don’t think that Israel fully understands the depth of the strategic significance and effect that these antisemitic incidents have on Israel’s perception in the US,” Nicolet said. He added that most of the funds and resources for combating antisemitism are geared toward young adults while studying in college, yet in his eyes, it is about time to fund these types of programs for younger audiences. “We all know that BDS organizations like Students for Justice in Palestine and others have been active on college campuses for many years. But what about high school students, like those who filed a complaint with us from Colorado, that teenagers threatened a Jewish student to wear a gas mask? Hate and incitement have become more popular at younger ages. We need to combat it.”

“Jewish university students ‘are concealing their identity’ on campus due to fears of antisemitism, a new report has found. A report by the Parliamentary Task Force on Antisemitism in Higher Education revealed students at UK institutions did not wear “certain clothing or jewellery around campus because it would make them visibly identifiable as Jewish.” The report, titled ‘Understanding Jewish Experience in Higher Education’, also said students consistently spoke of an “underlying fear of being targeted” over their backgrounds and of being “expected to answer questions about Israel”. Researched over a six-month period, evidence for the report was collected at 56 different universities across the UK and involved 29 separate campus visits.”

  • 2020: Hate crimes against Jewish students on U.S. college campuses reached an all-time high. The number of religiously-motivated hate crimes on college campuses doubled between 2009-2017, most of which targeted Jews.
  • 2019: Nearly half of young European Jews were victims of anti-Semitism in the past year; many if not most of these incidents related to Israel.
  • 2017-2018: During this school year, the number of incidents of anti-Semitic harassment on U.S. college campuses, aimed mostly at pro-Israel students, jumped by 70%, the largest increase and number ever recorded.
  • 2017: 31% of Jewish students at U.S. universities reported experiencing anti-Semitism; of them, 59% say it was related to anti-Israel attitudes.


(4) Strong support for Israel in America is being reversed, at a lightning rate — even among Jews & evangelical Christians

Update: Surveys taken after Hamas’s 10/7 slaughter of Jews:

  • November 2024: A small majority of US voters believe support for Israel too strong.
  • November 2024: 31% of voters nationwide said U.S. support for Israel is too strong. 30% said it’s not strong enough and 31% said it’s about right.
  • March 2024: By a 43%-35% margin, Democrats now have more sympathy for Palestinians than Israel. Independents support Israel over Palestinians by a 44-31% margin, Republicans by an 80%-7% margin.
  • By a 28% vs 20% margin, Americans between ages 18-29 say their sympathies are more with Palestinians over Israel
  • Only 27% of Americans age 18-34 believe the Jewish nation’s military response “is fully justified” (CNN survey)

  • 2023: A new report by the ADL reveals that 40% of Americans believe the statement, “Israel treats Palestinians like Nazis treated Jews,” is accurate. This is no anomaly: In 2015, 65% of Greek adults agreed with that statement.  As of 2021, 35% of people in Spain, 29% in the Netherlands, and 26% in Sweden, agree with the statement, “Israelis behave ‘like Nazis’ towards the Palestinians.”
  • 2023: For the first time, US Democrats sympathize more with the Palestinians (49%) than with Israel (38%).
  • 2023: Between 2018-2023, Americans’ sympathy with Israel dropped 18%, while sympathy for Palestinians jumped by 63%. (Gallup: When asked, “In the Middle East situation, are your sympathies more with the Israelis or more with the Palestinians?,” the percentage of Americans who sympathize more with Israel dropped from 64% in 2018 to 54% in 2023 (-18%), and their sympathy for the Palestinians increased from 19% to 31% (+63%).
  • 2022: 58% of Americans age 18-29 have an unfavorable impression of Israel, a view shared by 49% of 30-49 year olds.  55% of those who identify as Democrats have an unfavorable view of Israel, as do 63% of self-declared liberals.
  • 2021: At the moment, Israel has strong support in America. Gallup research shows that the overall percentage of Americans who have a favorable impression of Israel rose from 63% in 2001 to 75% in 2021, and the percentage that have more sympathy for Israel than the Palestinians in their conflict, rose from 51% in 2001 (pre-9/11) to 64% in 2021.
  • This trend is being reversed, however, at incredible speed.  ILI’s position is that this is occurring due to the virtually unchallenged success of anti-Israel propagandists in their efforts to influence young Americans (example here — one of innumerable incidents that were ignored by the most influential Jewish organizations). Consider the following seven facts:

(1) As of 2021, more Americans between age 18-34 have sympathy for Palestinians than for Israel (16% to 15%).

(2) Between 2018-2021, net sympathy* among Americans between 18-35 for Israel in its conflict with Palestinians dropped by two-thirds, from +39% to +13%. This was the biggest drop in support within this demographic in 20 years.  (*The gap between those who support Israel vs those who support the Palestinians)

(3) From 2018-2021, support for Israel among young US evangelical Christians dropped by more than half, from 75% to 33% (more here).

(4) Between 2010-2016, the number of US Jewish college students who support Israel over Palestinians dropped by 27 points (84% to 57%), while their support for Palestinians rose by 18 points. “We are allowing Israel to be defined by its detractors,” said the survey’s sponsor.

(5) 38% of American Jewish voters believe Israel is an “apartheid state.”

(6) 22% of American Jewish voters believe “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians”

(7) 20% of American Jews under age 40 believe “Israel doesn’t have the right to exist”

(8) 34% believe “Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is similar to racism in the U.S.”

  • 2021: Roughly half of US Democrats want US aid to increase to Palestinians, while 40% want US aid cut to Israel.
  • 2021: A survey conducted between May 14-17, 2021 determined that for every 2 Democrats who sympathized more with Israel during the ongoing war with Hamas, 3 Democrats sympathized more with Palestinians.
  • 2016: More Americans who identify as “liberal Democrats” support the Palestinians than Israelis.
  • 2016: Millennials support Israelis over Palestinians by a 43%-27% margin, the narrowest range of any demographic. According to one researcher, “The future of America no longer believes that Israel shares their values.”

Additional context: Europe

2021: A Politico survey of European nations showed that support for Israel (5.2%) is virtually on par with support for Palestinians (4.6%) and the Palestinian Authority (4.6%).


(5) UN bias & incitement against Israel


With the above article, and Sections (1)-(4) in mind, it’s reasonable to ask: What is causing anti-Israel & anti-Semitic hate & violence to be spiking as they are?

Numerous factors are contributing to this phenomenon, but the most visible, measurable global factor is the United Nations’ role in inciting & justifying both.

The UN is supposedly the world’s moral standard for advancing and upholding peace, justice, human rights and societal progress. This is what children throughout the world are told, and taught. In reality, it is a cesspool of lies and anti-Semitic incitement – while whitewashing and protecting the world’s worst human rights abusers.

One recent example:

UN condemned Israel 17 times in 2020, versus 6 times for rest of world combined; Watchdog decries ‘surreal torrent of one-sided resolutions’ as General Assembly adopts 2 resolutions singling out Jewish state for censure this week, by Times of Israel, December 23, 2020. Excerpt:

The United Nations General Assembly on Monday adopted two resolutions criticizing Israel, bringing 2020’s total tally to 17 resolutions against the Jewish state versus six resolutions singling out any other country, according to a tally by pro-Israel watchdog UN Watch.

Israel and activists have long slammed the UN for routinely adopting decision after decision directed against Israel, saying it exploits an overwhelming automatic majority that votes to censure Jerusalem no matter the subject.


The venerable watchdog group U.N. Watch has compiled data that validates this assertion. From 2015-2020, the UN General Assembly has issued 96 condemnations against Israel, almost invariably based on false or grossly distorted allegations. Yet neither the UN’s General Assembly, its Human Rights Council, nor its Commission on the Status of Women — have issued a single condemnations against the world’s most brutal terror states, including:

  • China, which holds 1 million Uighur Muslims in slavery
  • Libya, in which Arab Islamists capture and hold untold millions of black Africans in.slavery, and whom they sell for as little as $400 each. Although in December 2017 the UN “Security Council” issued a condemnation of this practice, the entire UN body was never given a chance to vote on this.
  • Pakistan, which routinely sentences anyone who is accused of blasphemy, heresy or apostasy to death


And in regards to 2020 alone:

UN condemned Israel 17 times in 2020, versus 6 times for rest of world combined; Watchdog decries ‘surreal torrent of one-sided resolutions’ as General Assembly adopts 2 resolutions singling out Jewish state for censure this week, by Times of Israel, December 23, 2020. Excerpt:

The United Nations General Assembly on Monday adopted two resolutions criticizing Israel, bringing 2020’s total tally to 17 resolutions against the Jewish state versus six resolutions singling out any other country, according to a tally by pro-Israel watchdog UN Watch.

Israel and activists have long slammed the UN for routinely adopting decision after decision directed against Israel, saying it exploits an overwhelming automatic majority that votes to censure Jerusalem no matter the subject.


(6) BONUS 1: Americans’ lack of knowledge of, and misperceptions regarding the Holocaust

  • January 2023: A new report by the ADL reveals that 40% of Americans think “Israel treats Palestinians like Nazis treated Jews.” Previously: In 2015, 65% of Greek adults agreed with that statement.
  • 2022: See my new report on this matter: Holocaust awareness in America and the West by Jon Sutz; highlights: 2018: 67% of American Millennials, and 40% US adults overall, don’t know what Auschwitz was; 2020: 20% of young New Yorkers believe the Jews caused the Holocaust; 2020: 58% of New Yorkers, and 60% of Texans, are unable to name a single Holocaust concentration camp or ghetto.
    • 2020: 55% of Americans don’t know how many Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.
    • 2019: One-third of Americans “believe the scope of the murder of Jews in the Holocaust has been exaggerated,” and that the actual number of Jews killed was 2 million, not 6 million. “In addition, 45 percent of Americans could not name any of the 40 ghettos or concentration camps erected by the Nazis, with a whopping 66 percent of millennials being unable to state the significance of ‘Auschwitz’.”
    • 2018: 41% of millennials, and nearly one-third of all Americans, believe that 2 million or fewer Jews were killed in the Holocaust; “Moreover, 45% of Americans could not name a single concentration camp; 41% of respondents – and 66% of millennials – couldn’t identify what Auschwitz was.

(7) BONUS 2: Jews as a portion of the world population, and in comparison to Muslim population

The following visualizations present data from these sources:

2019 World Jewish_Population – Jewish Data Bank

Jewish Population By Country 2021 – World Population Review

Muslim Population By Country 2021 – World Population Review