Anti-Jewish narratives have boiled over from fringe spaces and online chat rooms to political campaigns and public conversations without shame or constraint. Vile and violent antisemitic messages are spewing from across the political spectrum, and by very different voices.
At the center of it all is a familiar lie: that the Jewish people or the Jewish state wields hidden power—controlling governments, driving global events and manipulating public discourse.
The Iran war is not the cause. It is the accelerant shaping how Americans understand war, politics and Jews today.
Far-right antisemitism: Conspiracies and control
A longstanding antisemitic narrative—that Jews control governments and drive nations into war—has resurfaced in American politics. This devious trope has been prevalent for centuries, from medieval accusations of Jewish influence over monarchs to modern conspiracy theories. The forged and poisonous Russian Protocols of the Elders of Zion, published in 1903, falsely claimed Jews were orchestrating global control.
Recently, Joe Kent, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, claimed in his resignation letter that the United States entered the Iran war because of “pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” and that Iran posed no imminent threat. However, in 2020, Kent tweeted to U.S. President Donald Trump: “We should not sit and wait for the next attack, wipe Iran’s ballistic capability out,” exactly what the United States and Israel are doing now.
Kent resigned amid a report that he was under FBI investigation for unauthorized disclosures of classified information. He has also claimed that the ISIS attack that killed his wife while she was serving in Syria was the result of “a war manufactured by Israel.” In an interview with former Fox News host and current podcaster Tucker Carlson, he reiterated these claims and further alleged that Israel was involved in the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last September.
These claims have reached broader audiences through amplification by prominent commentators. Far-right political commentator Candace Owens praised Kent as an “American hero” for his views on the Iran war and Kirk’s murder. Kent made similar claims in an interview with conservative media personality Megyn Kelly.
Religious institutions are responding to these false narratives. After a fringe Catholic group expressed support for these media personalities, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement calling on Catholics to reject anti-Jewish hatred. The Conference signaled concern over the spread of rhetoric portraying Jews or Israel as exerting hidden control over American policy and global events. Archbishop Alexander K. Sample stated: “As Catholics, we are called to walk in the truth and so to reject the conspiracies and lies that lead to harassment and even violence against our Jewish brothers and sisters.”
Far-left antisemitism: Anti-Zionism and dehumanization
Antisemitic narratives on the left have moved out of the shadows and onto the main stage, exhibited through anti-Israel activism that brands Jews or Israel as uniquely evil, often using language that echoes longstanding tropes of Jewish power. They also invoke the blood libel that dates back 3,000 years. The false accusation that Jews murdered children for rituals fueled deadly violence in medieval Europe, including one of the earliest recorded instances in Norwich, England, in 1144.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani recently accused Israel of “genocide” again—this time in public remarks at the city’s annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration. The American Jewish Committee condemned Mamdani’s “dangerous” language for “fueling antisemitism at a moment when Jews are already under threat.”
Elisha Wiesel, son of Holocaust Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, condemned Mamdani for “spreading the vicious blood libel against the Jews.”
Recently, anti-Israel activists staged another blood libel display near the White House. Actors wore masks of Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein while dismembering and devouring fake babies.
Islamist antisemitism: Incitement and violence
Anti-Jewish voices portray Jews and Israel as enemies of Islam and global stability, and use this as an excuse for violence. This incitement is often pushed by Islamist extremists who use religious justifications to promote violence. Similar rhetoric has fueled deadly attacks on Jewish communities, including the 1941 Farhud pogrom in Baghdad, where a pro-Nazi Arab mob slaughtered nearly 200 Jews and injured hundreds more.
In London, three masked terrorists burned and destroyed four Jewish community ambulances outside a synagogue. The vehicles served all local residents, regardless of religion. An Iranian-linked terrorist group, Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Righteous, claimed responsibility for recently detonating explosives outside a Belgian synagogue. The terrorist organization is threatening to attack American and Israeli targets around the world.
In response to the attack in the United Kingdom, the Campaign Against Antisemitism warned that “people spewing obsessive conspiracy theories about Jews, Zionists and Israelis are not social justice warriors.” British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis emphasized: “Our volunteer ambulance corps is an extraordinary service, whose sole mission is to protect life, Jewish and non-Jewish alike.”
At recent “Quds Day” rallies—an annual Iran-backed event named for the Arabic word for Jerusalem—chants and signs combined longstanding antisemitic tropes with modern anti-Israel rhetoric. Protesters in New York City chanted, “Stop eating babies” and “We support Iran here.” In Dearborn, Mich., poet and lawyer Hassan Salamey told the crowd that “Zionists are devil-worshipping, satanic, sacrificing monsters who will lie and fabricate, and create false flag attacks.” Nazi and Soviet imagery also appeared at the worldwide protests.
A broad pattern of recent attacks and threats targeting Jewish communities is accelerating worldwide—from the attempted synagogue massacre of young children in Michigan to bombings outside of synagogues across Europe.
Points to consider:
1. Blaming Jews for global events is a resurgent form of historic hate.
The claim that Jews or Israel are responsible for wars and global instability is not new. It is a centuries-old antisemitic narrative that has repeatedly surfaced during moments of crisis. Now, that same idea is being repackaged across political and ideological movements, portraying Jews as controlling governments, driving conflicts and manipulating world events. This is not legitimate political criticism or a policy debate. Rather, it blames all Jews for complex global events and reinforces one of the oldest forms of anti-Jewish hatred.
2. Focusing on “left versus right antisemitism” misses the larger pattern.
Debates over which form of political antisemitism is “worse” obscure a more dangerous reality. While these movements differ in ideology and messengers, they share the same goal of demonizing Jews and Israel, and sowing discord in society. This convergence spreads its poison through the news, across social media and even from politicians, reinforcing one another and expanding its reach.
3. Antisemitic language is becoming normalized in public and political discourse.
Antisemitic narratives that once circulated on the fringes are now appearing in political campaigns, protests, media coverage and high-profile interviews. Claims about Jewish or Israeli control are reaching broader audiences through political platforms and social media. At the same time, dehumanizing language portraying Jews as monsters, child-killers or global manipulators is becoming more visible and more accepted. As these ideas are repeated across mainstream spaces, they gain legitimacy and influence, and start to make extreme rhetoric seem normal.
4. The normalization of blaming Jews creates real-world danger.
Antisemitic narratives do not remain words; they shape perception, justify hostility and can lead to violence. History shows that when Jews are consistently blamed for societal problems, attacks often follow because historically what begins with the Jews doesn’t end with only the Jews. Ideas and content spread lightning fast across social media—from neo-Nazi movements to communist circles and Islamist networks—inciting followers and increasing the risk of violent attacks. When protesters chant “stop eating babies” in New York or ambulances serving communities are burned in London, these are not abstract ideas. They are attacks on real people.
