The coronavirus pandemic has sparked another global outbreak of anti-Semitism.
Anti-Defamation League Israel Director Carole Nuriel spoke to Arutz Sheva about the threats Jews are facing in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
"The basis of the current anti-Semitic attack is that Jews are responsible for spreading disease and epidemics around the world, which we know from the days of early Christianity," Nuriel said.
"At the time of the SARS and swine flu, too, there were accusations, not only of causing the plague, but of exploitation of the disease for economic gain, of gaining control of the affected population and of expanding their global control. All the claims we have known since then are now being repackaged on the occasion of the coronvirus," she explained.
According to Nuriel, the spread of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories is a cross-border phenomenon just like the spread of the coronavirus itself. "In the internet age, it is a little difficult to geographically demarcate it. It is easier today to spread anti-Semitism, there is a lot of internet accessibility from both anti-Semitic distributors and consumers who are at home more because of the virus. We see it across the United States as well and it is important to say that this is also evident among European leaders. It is disturbing because these are people with a very large support base."
"Many times these are conspiracy theories made by people who are searching for a force responsible for some phenomenon. In the case of anti-Semites, this need is a hatred for the Jewish population and they use the collective anxiety about the virus to promote anti-Semitism. That's why there are audiences for these messages," Nuriel added.
"We fight anti-Semitism 365 days a year, including the days of the coronavirus, and raise these matters to explain that these are baseless allegations. At this time, when we all sit at home, it is very important to fight it, but we have one eye ahead for the day after the crisis, to the danger of when they come back from the online space to the street and pose a danger to Jews all over the world. "