A comprehensive global survey has revealed that approximately half of adults worldwide hold antisemitic beliefs and question Holocaust facts, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
The Anti-Defamation League's largest-ever study of anti-Jewish attitudes found that 46% of adults across 103 countries and territories display antisemitic views – representing an estimated 2.2 billion people worldwide, The Wall Street Journal reported. The survey, which included more than 58,000 adults from regions comprising 94% of the world's adult population, revealed that one-fifth of respondents had never heard of the Holocaust, while 21% either denied its occurrence or claimed historians had exaggerated it.
"The fact that nearly half of the global population has elevated antisemitic sentiments tells us we are in nothing short of a global emergency," ADL Chief Executive Jonathan A. Greenblatt said, according to The Wall Street Journal. "This is a virus that has spread, it is accelerating and intensifying."
The survey, known as Global 100, indicated that antisemitism in the global adult population has more than doubled since its 2014 launch. The findings align with other recent reports showing increased anti-Jewish sentiment following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and Israel's subsequent operations in Gaza and Lebanon.
Young people showed particularly concerning trends, with 50% of respondents under 35 holding antisemitic views and only 39% acknowledging the Holocaust's historical accuracy, The Wall Street Journal reported. This contrasts with older generations, as just 37% of those over 50 expressed antisemitic beliefs.
"Social media is a superspreader of hate that allows antisemites to export their views to the masses," Greenblatt said, according to The Wall Street Journal. "A younger audience that consumes their news on TikTok and Instagram has a less informed view of the world, with information provided by influencers not based on expertise, but based on the appeal of their memes."
The study examined 11 antisemitic tropes, finding 50% of respondents agreed that "Jews don't care what happens to anyone but their own kind," while 48% endorsed the statement "People hate Jews because of the way Jews behave," and 46% agreed that "Jews have too much control over world affairs." The survey revealed that 56% believed Jews are loyal only to Israel rather than their resident countries.
Regional variations were significant, The Wall Street Journal noted. Three-quarters of respondents in the Middle East and North Africa agreed with most antisemitic tropes, while about half of those surveyed in Asia, Eastern Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa held such views. The figures were lower in Western Europe (17%), the Americas (24%), and Oceania (20%).
Recent events have highlighted these concerns in Europe, where the European Union's executive body reported unprecedented levels of antisemitism in October. In the Netherlands, Israeli soccer fans were chased and attacked by crowds, with prosecutors linking the unrest to the situation in Gaza. In Germany, Jewish community leaders have advised their members to conceal their identity in public for safety.
The ADL study, conducted by Ipsos between July and November 2024, revealed that Holocaust denial remains a serious concern. While 57% of respondents recognized antisemitism as a serious problem, 20% had never heard of the Holocaust, 17% believed historians exaggerated the number of Jewish victims, and 4% denied its occurrence entirely.
Regional analysis showed particularly concerning trends in Holocaust awareness. In the Middle East and North Africa, only 16% of respondents accepted mainstream historical accounts of the Holocaust, while in sub-Saharan Africa, the figure stood at 23%.
"There is a small group of people who are driving the incidents, and there is a silenced majority," Greenblatt said.
The research methodology varied by region – Ipsos conducted the polling globally, while GDCC, Ronin, and Catalyze Global Research gathered data in the Middle East and North Africa.
The Wall Street Journal noted that while the ADL has faced criticism for sometimes categorizing criticism of Israel as antisemitic, this study's antisemitism score focused solely on responses to traditional antisemitic tropes, requiring respondents to agree with six or more of 11 specific statements to be classified as holding antisemitic views.
