Think Tank Warns Gaza War Is Fueling Antisemitism and Dividing Diaspora Jews | Israel Politics Post
Think Tank Warns Gaza War Is Fueling Antisemitism and Dividing Diaspora Jews
A new report from Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies argues that Israeli policy choices, not just the war itself, are feeding a rise in antisemitism and splitting Jewish communities abroad.
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By Israel Politics Post Staff·Published
Synagogues defaced with anti-Israel graffiti in several cities · Source: Lonny Goldsmith/TC Jewfolk; FBI; Comunidad Judia de Barcelona, via The Times of Israel
A report from the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), a defense-focused think tank affiliated with Tel Aviv University, argues that the war in Gaza and the broader conflict with the Palestinians are driving a global rise in antisemitism and fracturing Jewish communities overseas, The Times of Israel reported.
The report, titled "No Longer on the Sidelines," places some of the responsibility on Israeli policy itself, pointing to actions in Gaza, inaction in the West Bank, and the absence of a diplomatic path forward as factors feeding international condemnation. Report co-author Theodore Sasson put it directly: "The conflict is not only over there in the Middle East, it is local all over the Jewish world now." He argued that Israeli policymakers should weigh diaspora concerns as a matter of enlightened self-interest, not just as a secondary consideration.
The findings grew out of discussions with 20 senior Jewish community leaders from North America, Britain, France and South America, held under Chatham House rules so participants could speak candidly. The group identified four distinct effects of the ongoing conflict: a normalization of hostility toward Israel, splintering within Jewish communities themselves, a weakened pro-Israel advocacy voice, and a broader amplification of antisemitic sentiment.
The report is careful to state that "Jews and Israelis are not to blame for antisemitism," while still arguing that certain Israeli policy decisions hand extremists "incendiary material" they can exploit. The authors cite a Mellman Group poll finding that 56 percent of American Jewish voters worry Netanyahu's own conduct has contributed to rising antisemitism at home.
