EXTREMISMConspiracy Theories, Holocaust Education, and Other Predictors of Antisemitic Belief

Published 20 March 2023

A new research explored a variety of topics to better understand which factors are linked with holding greater numbers of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel attitudes. Understanding the relative predictive power of each of these variables will have significant implications in developing strategies aimed at ameliorating antisemitism.

The ADL has issued a new report on Antisemitic attitudes in the United States. The researchers explored a variety of variables to better understand which factors are linked with holding greater numbers of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel attitudes.

Overall, the study revealed that people who believe a higher number of anti-Jewish tropes tend to: 1) know little about Jews, Judaism, and Jewish history; 2) not have any relationships with Jewish people and/or describe their past experiences with Jews negatively; 3) not think that Jews face hostility or danger in the United States today; and 4) show a general disposition toward conspiracy theory thinking.

ADL says that understanding the relative predictive power of each of these variables will have significant implications in developing strategies aimed at ameliorating antisemitism.

Here is report “Introduction”:

Introduction
In late 2022, NORC and ADL surveyed a nationally representative sample of over 4,000 Americans to better understand attitudes toward Jews and Israel. The survey included several batteries of questions, including: sections probing general attitudes toward Jews and Israel; questions designed to understand respondents’ level of agreement with both historic and contemporary anti-Jewish and anti-Israel tropes; questions measuring literacy and familiarity with Jews and Israel; several comparative prejudice experiments; and general conspiracy theory belief questions.

As detailed in an earlier topline report, the research revealed widespread levels of anti-Jewish sentiment among American adults. ADL found that a significant proportion of Americans saw Jews as:

·  Clannish outsiders: 70 percent and 53 percent of Americans said that Jews stick together more than others and go out of their way to hire other Jews, respectively

·  Dually loyal: 39 percent of Americans thought Jews are more loyal to Israel than to the United States

·  Disproportionately powerful: 38 percent of Americans thought Jews always like to be at the head of things, 26 percent thought Jews have too much power in business, and 20 percent thought Jews have too much power in the United States today

On average, Americans agreed with 4.2 of the 14 statements included in the anti-Jewish question battery. But a fifth of Americans (20 percent) agreed with 6 or more of the 11 original statements - the highest level of antisemitic attitudes detected in decades of asking this same series of questions.