Antisemitism and Jewish Politics in America

Abstract

In the late 2010s, antisemitism re-emerged as a topic of concern in the United States following a series of high-profile violent attacks on Jewish institutions. These concerns intensified following the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the ensuing war in Gaza, and the rise of mass pro-Palestinian protests, which together sparked renewed national debates over what constitutes antisemitism. As a result, antisemitism has now become a central and contested issue in American political life. This dissertation examines antisemitism and Jewish politics in the United States in the context of this transformation. The first chapter examines the ideological distribution of antisemitic attitudes in America using an original survey of 3,500 Americans in 2020. We test the "horseshoe theory" hypothesis that antisemitism is equally prevalent on the far left and the far right. We find no evidence for this pattern, instead finding that antisemitic attitudes appear substantially stronger on the far right, particularly among young adults. We do find some evidence of an anti-Jewish double standard among the left, but even those anti-Jewish attitudes among the left are smaller in magnitude3 than those on the right. The second chapter looks at anti-Israel sentiment among Americans, particularly among young and far left ones, using the same 3,500-person sample. We find that younger and further left Americans do hold distinctly negative views of Israel compared to older and/or more conservative Americans. We examine whether their negative views are explained by an issue prioritization of the Israel/Palestine conflict or are focused only on Israel's government, but neither explanation appears to explain the findings. Negative views towards Israel persist even when respondents were asked to specifically evaluate Israel's culture and religion. The third chapter turns to Jewish Americans themselves. Using a new sampling methodology to survey Jewish Americans, I examine Jewish American attitudes around antisemitism and Israel. I find that Jewish American opinion is highly divided but consistently organized around partisan lines, with certain denominational affiliations and the salience of Jewish identity aligning to produce distinct clusters of opinion. Voter file analysis reveals little evidence of a large-scale partisan realignment among Jewish Americans since October 7, despite popular narratives around Jewish Americans becoming less Democratic. Observed polarization around attitudes thus appears to reflect pre-existing partisan divides rather than recent political shifts. These chapters demonstrate how antisemitism and opinions towards Israel have become embedded within broader patterns of American political polarization. Both antisemitic attitudes and views towards Israel in the mass public appear to be explained by both partisan and generational divides. Among Jewish Americans, attitudes towards Israel, antisemitism, and other Jewish topics are similarly polarized along partisan lines, while also shaped by denominational affiliation and the salience of Jewish identity. This dissertation shows how recent debates over antisemitism and Israel reflect and reinforce broader divisions in American political life.