A disturbing new poll from the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate shows that nearly one-third of young Americans believe that Jews pose a threat to the United States.

The study opens with these ominous words:

“Two years ago, Blue Square Alliance research revealed that antisemitic attitudes had increased
across the United States, driven by the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and the war that followed.
By mid-2024, that increase had plateaued. Our hope was that the plateau marked a turning point.”

“It did not.”

The survey found that antisemitic attitudes had reached their worst levels since the group began tracking antisemitism in June 2023.

“The issue our research reveals is not simply one of more hate. It is one of more entrenched
confusion and openness to believing harmful tropes, which in turn creates barriers to allyship,” the group wrote.

The findings of the poll included the following:

• Twenty-nine percent of respondents aged 18 to 44 perceived Jews as a threat to the unity of American society compared with 13 percent of those aged 60 and older.
• Thirteen percent of those aged 18 to 29 believed that Jews “cause problems in the world,” compared with 3 percent of those 60 and older.
• About 20 percent of all those surveyed did not believe slurs against Jews were harmful to them.
• Only 52 percent of the 18-to-29-year-old cohort believed Israel has a right to exist.
• Although the number of people who believe antisemitism is a problem increased from 40 percent to 46 percent, the number of respondents who believe Jews can handle problems on their own increased from 40 percent to 55 percent.

The survey also divided respondents into haters, the unengaged, and allies, saying that there is hope of pushing the unengaged into allyship.

“The broader findings of this report make the case for urgency. Antisemitism has risen to its worst levels
since we began tracking perspectives in 2023,” the survey authors wrote in the conclusion. “Belief in antisemitic tropes has nearly doubled. Young Americans are moving in the wrong direction. And yet the unengaged, the largest segment of the American public, remain responsive to the right messages delivered consistently.”