The battle against antisemitic attitudes is far from won

Violent antisemitic incidents are committed by a very small number of people, while antisemitic attitudes are held by large numbers of people. The highest number of antisemitic assaults in any one country in 2023 was in the UK with 266 attacks in a population of 68 million people. Even the low Index score of 12 per cent represents more than eight million British people who hold antisemitic attitudes. Presumably the hundreds of violent antisemites are among those eight million, but the numbers do not influence each other.

We see this phenomenon across Europe, including in places such as Sweden, which has the lowest Index score at 5 per cent, yet is home to a Jewish community that has reported feeling quite unsafe for years.

Again, the explanation requires holding two separate thoughts about antisemitism at the same time. The vast majority of Swedes do not hold antisemitic attitudes according to the Index questions, which focus on classical antisemitic tropes.

The insecurity felt by the Swedish Jewish community, in fact, mostly stems from threats by small groups in Sweden – radical Islamists and neo-Nazis – as well as from external threats, such as by the Iranian regime, targeting the Swedish Jewish leadership with violent plots. The prevalence of anti-Israel attitudes in Sweden also contributes to the Jewish community’s feelings of unease.

Similarly, there seems to be a discrepancy between the low Index scores in western Europe and a recent European Union survey of Jewish communities, which found that many Jews are considering emigration due to perceived threats.

Jewish emigration, however, generally has three types of impetus: their connection to Israel and the desire to live their lives there, seeking better economic opportunities, and escaping antisemitism. It’s a deeply personal decision with varying factors to take into consideration. From our discussions with European Jewish community leaders, emigration due to antisemitism seems to stem much more from fear of violence than from discomfort with antisemitic attitudes in society.

Perhaps the most common question we received from early reviewers was, “So what explains the drop in western Europe’s Index score?”

We don’t have a data-driven answer to this question, but we can speculate about the reasons. Across western Europe, most political leaders have vocally condemned specific, high-profile antisemitic incidents as well as the spike in the numbers of incidents. Leaders’ words matter and they set a tone for their societies.

We hope and believe that such condemnations convey a vital message that antisemitism is shameful and illegitimate, and as a result, people are less willing to believe antisemitic tropes. It’s important to stress that the prevalence of antisemitic attitudes is just one of several measures that ADL uses to assess the level of antisemitism in any country. It’s just one piece of a much larger puzzle.

The major factors that affect a Jewish person’s sense of security to live openly and freely as a Jew include attitudes in society, but also the number and nature of antisemitic incidents, the actions or inactions of government authorities to protect Jewish communities and prevent antisemitism, the tolerance of antisemitic speech in media and politics, and whether the freedom to perform religious rites is under threat.

The battle against antisemitic attitudes is far from won, but that progress must not detract from the need for attention to all expressions of antisemitism. Security measures need to address violent incidents. Governments must be proactive to address antisemitism. Antisemitic speech must not go unchallenged in media and politics. Religious freedom must be protected. And education must be utilised as a long-term solution to continue to drive antisemitic attitudes down.

Students need to learn the basic facts about the Jewish people, about antisemitism, and about how to be an ally against antisemitism. When such programmes are in place and have been implemented for many years, we can hope that antisemitic attitudes will fall further. Today, however, no efforts can be spared against the hate – in its myriad forms – that threatens Jewish communities across Europe.

Andrew Srulevitch is ADL’s director of European Affairs