anti-Semitic imagery
anti-Semitic imageryStrategic Affairs Ministry

The Strategic Affairs Ministry published a new report detailing the use of the coronavirus pandemic to spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and to spread anti-Israel propaganda.

The "hate virus report" reveals, through a systematic comparison, the wide resemblance of publications by delegitimators among state, semi-state, and terrorist organizations hostile to Israel (most notably Iran, the PA and Hamas), and radical right wing parties, in the distribution of classic anti-Semitic theories.

In recent weeks, the ministry has been monitoring expressions of delegitimization and anti-Semitism that link the state of Israel and the Jewish people to the outbreak of the coronavirus. The comparison reveals the same use of motifs, blood libels, and conspiracy theories that include, among other things, blaming Israel and Jews for conspiring to take over the world, deliberately infecting and poisoning people and making money. For example, IDF soldiers are accused of deliberately infecting Palestinian Arabs through coughing, similar to the classic anti-Semitic plot whereby Jews infect the world with epidemics.

An expression of the gravity of the situation was recently presented by UN Special Rapporteur on Religious Freedom Ahmed Shaheed, who warned of the exploitation of the coronavirus crisis to spread anti-Semitic propaganda and called for "firm" measures against the phenomenon.