Seen in that perspective, it’s clear that Israel is just the latest, albeit a vicious, excuse for Jew hatred. If all those who hate Israel do not necessarily embrace the full roster of anti-Semitic stereotypes, their willingness to embrace the war against the Jewish state demonstrates the way Jews remain the planet’s boogeyman and the objects of unthinking bias and potential violence.
Many Jews will look at these numbers and, no doubt, wonder how they can change the minds of the haters or adopt behaviors that will undercut the stereotypes. But whatever else it tells us, the survey is a reminder that anti-Semitism is about the minds of the anti-Semites and their desire to seek out a small group for hostility, not what the Jews do. Those who will seek to blame Israel or Jewish power for these numbers are deceiving both themselves and others. Anti-Semitism is an ancient belief system that can adapt itself to any set of circumstances or locale.
While the ADL and others will continue their work of seeking to educate the world against hate, until that seemingly futile task succeeds Jews would do well to redouble their support for the Jewish state and to stand ready to defend it. All these years after the Holocaust and the subsequent rebirth of anti-Semitism in the guise of anti-Zionism, the necessity of the existence of Israel – a place where Jews can defend themselves against the haters and shelter those in need – is no less an imperative for being the obvious verdict of history.