Though it is sad to say, many progressives seem energized by the resurgence of antisemitism on the political right because it enables them to obfuscate its pervasive virulence on the left. After turning a blind eye to rampant antisemitism in traditional liberal strongholds for decades (including university campuses and progressive social advocacy organizations), many are finally expressing outrage now that they can go back to pretending it is an exclusively right-wing phenomenon.
But the myth that antisemitism is an idiosyncratic demon of the right constitutes a cynical attempt to rewrite history, misrepresent the current state of American politics, and whitewash the complicity of establishment liberals who ignored or rationalized Jew-hatred among their political compatriots for years.
Where was the mainstream’s indignation when antisemitism began polluting college campuses and corrupting the Democrats’ domestic and foreign policy agendas (courtesy of radical party progressives they could not control)? The unsettling reality is that, despite statistical evidence showing that spikes in antisemitic violence over the last few years have come largely from the left - often in conjunction with radical Islamists - the liberal establishment’s kneejerk tendency has been to downplay progressive complicity. In fact, its reflex for years has been to blame right-wing extremists or white supremacists exclusively, though the radical right has no significant presence on college campuses where Jewish students are routinely attacked or connection with leftist advocacy and activist groups that vilify Israel, demonize Jews, and glorify Hamas.
If the liberal communal establishment bears any responsibility for safeguarding Jewish integrity, it has failed miserably - and this failure is shared by non-Orthodox clergy who wrongly conflate progressive ideologies with Jewish tradition and often support radical agendas hostile to Israel and traditional Judaism.
There seems little doubt that right-wing media figures like Nick Fuentes and Candace Owens are using their platforms to malign Jews, Judaism, and Israel and that antisemitism is becoming normalized among conservative extremists the same way it has been embraced by progressives and tolerated by Democrats. What distinguishes its growth on the right from its proliferation on the left, however, is the refusal of Jewish conservatives to rationalize or validate it or make excuses fellow conservatives who spew antisemitic venom.
Jewish commentators, in fact, are outspoken in their condemnation of right-wing Jew-hatred and the willingness of right-leaning pundits and podcasters to provide forums for bigots who deny the Holocaust, mythologize Hitler, disseminate propaganda against Israel and AIPAC, or popularize anti-Jewish conspiracy theories without fear of critical pushback. Ben Shapiro, for example: he recently called out Tucker Carlson for hosting Fuentes without offering any critical challenge to Fuentes’s outrageous views.
Jewish conservatives are also lambasting those who, while not antisemitic themselves, are reluctant to chastise right-wing bigots over anti-Jewish vitriol they characterize simply as political commentary or differences of opinion.
Compare this to the absence of consequence from liberals when Congressional Democrats like Ilhan Omar or Alexandria Ocasio Cortez falsely accuse Israel of genocide in Gaza or impute pejorative stereotypes to the Jewish state. When Omar deceitfully compared Israel to Hamas and the Taliban a few years ago, for example, only twelve of the thirty-seven Jews then sitting in Congress challenged her in a letter asking her “to clarify her words…” This rebuke was not particularly strong, but at least they responded - unlike other Jewish members of Congress who equivocated or remained silent. Whether such apathy reflects residual ghetto mentality or the elevation of secular politics over Jewish values, this dynamic is not new; and it seems far more common among Jews on the left than the right.
Indeed, this tendency to tolerate antisemitism seems to correspond with disparateness in support for Israel based on party affiliation, as reflected by a Gallup poll earlier this year showing that only thirty-three percent of Democrats today view Israel favorably, compared to eighty-three percent of Republicans. These numbers have steadily declined since 2022, when sixty-three percent of Democrats reported positive views of Israel, to fifty-six percent in 2023 after the atrocities of October 7th, to forty-seven percent in 2024, followed by this year’s abysmal drop to thirty-three percent. One could reasonably infer a correlation between eroding Democratic support for Israel after October 7th and the antisemitic blood libels routinely asserted against her by progressive and socialist hacks within the party, who are accepted by the establishment and no longer considered fringe.
Though many claim they are not antisemitic but merely “anti-Zionist,” this is a false syllogism that is repeated by many on the Jewish left, including many nontraditional rabbis. But given that anti-Zionism is predicated on classical stereotypes and conspiracy theories (e.g., the myth of disproportionate Jewish power and influence), it clearly invokes the same visceral antipathy for Jews and Judaism historically found throughout Christian and Islamic societies (which is often scripturally based). And this ingrained antisemitism helped shape the political philosophies and movements that grew out of these cultures - whether right or left, religious or secular.
According to the American Jewish Congress in 2020, the majority of Jews surveyed (eighty-five percent) deemed antisemitic the statement that “Israel has no right to exist,” which is the foundational premise of anti-Zionism. Likewise, the majority believed it antisemitic to assert that “the US government only supports Israel because of Jewish money” and “American Jews are more loyal to Israel than America” (eighty-four and seventy-six percent, respectively).
Given such findings, it seems strange that Jewish voters would continue their unwavering support of a Democratic Party whose influential progressive members frequently disparage Israel with abhorrent antisemitic imagery. But liberals have always been blind when it comes to recognizing flaws in progressive icons and social agendas. During the 2008 presidential election cycle, for example, many liberal rabbis anointed Barack Obama as pro-Jewish and pro-Israel despite his known relationships with antisemitic intellectuals, activists, and clergy. Moreover, most continued to support him regardless of his disrespectful treatment of Israel, the explosion of anti-Jewish hate-crimes during his administration, and his consistent failure to condemn antisemitism without qualification while overstating the supposed threat of Islamophobia.
We saw the same cognitive dissonance during New York City’s recent mayoral election, when many liberal rabbis supported socialist, anti-Israel candidate Zohran Mamdani, claiming to be guided by Jewish ethical priorities. But in doing so, they ignored or excused Mamdani’s rationalization of and reluctance to denounce the slogan “globalize the intifada” (a phrase advocating Israel's destruction) and his false claims of Israeli genocide in Gaza (certainly a modern-day blood libel). They also ignored his involvement with Students for Justice in Palestine during his student days at Bowdoin College (he co-founded the campus chapter), an organization the ADL has criticized for disseminating antisemitic propaganda.
Progressive antipathy for Israel is not justified by revisionist Palestinian Arab mythology or as a response to Israeli policies - particularly considering that Arab citizens of Israel lead freer and more economically productive lives than anywhere in the Arab world. As well, support for anti-Israel progressives and Islamists is not consistent with such traditional Jewish values as ethical introspection and love for the stranger. Supporting candidates like Mamdani instead reflects the elevation of extremist politics over authentic Jewish tradition. Indeed, progressives often disparage traditional Judaism as ethnocentric and trivialize Jewish history by reducing it to partisan allegory - all while belittling adherence to Torah as a guide for daily living.
Yes, the rise of antisemitism on the political right is unnerving and yes, we should be concerned that it could infect the conservative movement and Republican Party the same way it has overtaken the progressive left and the Democrats. The difference with antisemitism on the right, however, is that politically active Jews are not ignoring, excusing, or enabling it the way they have on the left. Moreover, Jewish conservatives have been unwilling to provide cover for those on their side of the aisle who deny Jewish history and national integrity - in contrast to the moral acquiescence of many of their liberal counterparts.
There is a Midrashic mashal (parable) that fittingly describes the consequences of embracing profane ideologies that contravene Torah and threaten Jewish continuity. The story is told in Vayikra Rabbah thus: “Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai taught: This is analogous to people who were sitting in a ship. One of them took a drill and began drilling a hole. His counterparts said to him: ‘What are you sitting and doing?’ He said to them: ‘Why do you care? Am I not drilling [only] under myself?’ They said to him: ‘Because the water will rise and flood the ship we are on!’” (Vayikra Rabbah 4:6.)
Ignoring or enabling antisemites out of partisan allegiance, political expediency, or moral weakness conflicts with Torah values and endangers Jewish communal security. How high does the water have to rise before people recognize that such behavior endangers all Jews?
Matthew M. Hausman is a seasoned trial attorney and adjunct professor of law and criminal justice with nearly forty years' experience as a journalist and editor. A former correspondent specializing in science, health and medicine and legal affairs columnist, Mr. Hausman now writes and speaks about constitutional and international law, foreign policy, Israel and Jewish affairs, and his work has been published throughout the US, Canada, Israel, and Australia.