Nearly one-third of young Americans view Jews as a threat to society — poll

A survey released on Thursday found widespread and increasingly prevalent hostility to Jews and Israel among young Americans, alongside general apathy toward taking action on antisemitism, while recognizing it as a problem.

Polls have repeatedly found that anti-Jewish sentiment is more common among younger Americans than older generations.

Thursday’s poll, by the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, found that, for respondents aged 18-44, nearly one-third — 29% — viewed Jews as a “threat to the unity of American society,” compared to 13% of those over 60.

Among respondents aged 18-29, about one in eight, or 13%, said Jewish people “cause problems in the world,” compared to 3% of those over 60.

Around 1 in 5 younger Americans did not consider slurs against Jews to be harmful to Jewish people.

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For Gen Z respondents, aged 18-29, only 52% said Israel has a right to exist.

Young people were also more likely to believe that Jews should handle antisemitism on their own, to say that antisemitism is not a major problem, to say that antisemitism is blown out of proportion, and were more open to questioning the Holocaust.

The survey also found that, while many Americans view antisemitism as an issue, they are less inclined to take action.

The number of Americans who view antisemitism as a “major problem” has increased since June 2023, from 40% to 46%.

At the same time, though, respondents who said “Jews can handle antisemitism on their own” increased from 40% to 55% during the same time period.

Respondents reported feeling sad (63%) or angry (48%) after reading about antisemitic hate crimes, but only 16% said they were motivated to take action against future antisemitism.

Forty-two percent said, “We must stand up or Holocaust lessons are ignored,” while 40% said antisemitism was blown out of proportion.

The Blue Square sorts respondents into several categories, from “haters” to the “unengaged” and “allies,” based on the participants’ responses.

The largest group, by far, is the “unengaged” category, at 47%. The Blue Square says its advocacy is aimed at members of that group, who can become potential allies.

Haters, whose responses indicate they are “blatantly prejudiced against Jews,” increased since June 2023 from 6% to 14%, while the share of allies, who are well-informed and aware of antisemitism, dropped from 15% to 6%.

The survey, conducted by the Blue Square with the SSRS and Research Narrative polling groups, took place in March and April, shortly after the start of the US-Israel military offensive against Iran.

The survey noted that anti-Israel attitudes had shifted sharply among antisemites and the unengaged around the time, coinciding with intense media coverage of the conflict.

For example, in August 2025, 50% of “haters” believed that “Israel is committing genocide.” That figure increased 21 percentage points by March 2026. For “allies,” belief that Israel was committing genocide or apartheid remained at about the same level.

At the same time, a majority 52% of all respondents said it was harmful to blame Jews for the Israeli government’s actions.

Belief in each of the 10 antisemitic tropes that the group tracks has increased since June 2023. The tropes include, “They think they’re the chosen ones,” that Jews are “white and wealthy,” that Jews “run Hollywood,” and that Jews “dislike Christians.”

The Blue Square said that antisemitic attitudes had increased after the October 2023 Hamas onslaught in Israel, but had plateaued by mid-2024.

That plateau did not last, though, according to the group’s data, as antisemitism has risen again since August 2025.

The survey found that 32% of respondents did not believe that questioning the Holocaust was antisemitic, a 13 point increase since June 2023.

A majority of Americans are unfamiliar with violent antisemitic attacks in the US abroad.

The survey queried 7,053 US adults between March 4 and April 3 and had a margin of error of 1.5 percentage points.

The Blue Square was founded by Robert Kraft in 2019 as the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism.