Younger Americans are more likely to be antisemitic than older voters, with a particular problem on the conservative right, a new poll has claimed.
Previous polls, including those carried out by the Anti-Defamation League since 1964, found that antisemitism was more commonplace among older Americans than young.
But in recent years that appears to have flipped, borne out by the new Yale Youth Poll, reported in The Bulwark, suggesting that younger people are more likely to harbor antisemitic views. Researchers also found that young conservatives are more likely to agree with antisemitic statements than young liberals.
The Yale findings come days after an arson attack at a synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi, and ongoing political concern about anti-Jewish sentiment in the country.
Yale surveyed 3,400 registered U.S. voters, half of whom were under the age of 35, about their views on antisemitism, Zionism and Israel.
The poll asked respondents whether they agreed or disagreed with the following three statements commonly considered to be antisemitic:
- Jews in the United States are more loyal to Israel than to America.
- It’s appropriate to boycott Jewish American-owned businesses to protest the war in Gaza.
- Jews in the United States have too much power.
Among all voters, 70 per cent agreed with none of these three statements. However the same is true for just 57 per cent of 18-22 year-olds and 60 per cent of 23-29 year-olds.
The poll also found that young conservatives aged 18-34 are more likely to agree with one or more of the statements than liberals. Two thirds of those who considered themselves “extremely conservative” agreed with one of them and nearly half agreed with two. One in five agreed with all three statements.
This week Donald Trump said there was no room for antisemites in his MAGA movement, telling The New York Times: “I think we don’t need them. I think we don’t like them.”
His remarks came after Vice President JD Vance was forced to deny antisemitism is “exploding” in the GOP last month. Senator Ted Cruz had previously warned of growing anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiment among conservatives.
The Yale poll also gave concerning results on how Jewish contributions to the United States are perceived by the young.
When asked whether Jewish people have had a positive, negative, or neutral impact on the United States, just 8 per cent of voters overall said they believed Jews have had a negative impact.
However, these numbers were much higher among younger respondents, with 18 per cent of 18-22 year-olds saying that they had a negative impact on the United States, as well as 15 per cent of 23-29 year-olds.
The Yale polling indicated there was also a generational divide on whether Israel should exist as a Jewish State. In the overall sample, 46 per cent of respondents backed its existence, compared with 18 per cent who favoured a non‑Jewish state and 5 per cent who said it should not exist at all.
Again, among younger adults, the picture shifted: 15 per cent of those under 30 said Israel should not exist, and fewer than 30 per cent supported it remaining a Jewish state. Support was far higher among older respondents, with 64 per cent of those aged 65 and over backing Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.
In conclusion, the research team said the results indicated that “both antisemitic views and anti-Israel stances are more common among younger voters”.
But they cautioned that this doesn’t mean “the former is causing the latter, or vice versa”.
“It is difficult to untangle the direction of causality here. Clearly, there are voters who are driven toward anti-Israel beliefs by their pre-existing antisemitic beliefs, as well as voters who adopt antisemitic views as a result of pre-existing anti-Israel views or of conflating Israel with the Jewish diaspora.
“And there are voters who are deeply critical of Israel but are not antisemitic, as well as voters who may be antisemitic but are not as critical of Israel.”
