Report Links Rising Antisemitism to COVID, Gaza Escalation

The coronavirus pandemic led to a rise in antisemitism around the world in 2021, according to a report by the Diaspora Ministry that will be presented to the government on Sunday, ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27.

This report points to a link between rising antisemitism and the pandemic, seeing a rise in conspiratorial rhetoric, painting Jews as profiting from vaccines and exploiting the crisis to strengthen their grip on governments and the world economy.

The report further shows that the pandemic brought about a trend of trivialization of the Holocaust, both by public figures and social media users, with repeated comparisons between health restrictions and the antisemitic discrimination and violence in Nazi Germany.

Many anti-vax protesters around the world have brandished the yellow badge to signify persecution by the authorities.

The report also shows that the past year has seen an upsurge in antisemitic incidents around the world, in part due to the escalation in the Gaza Strip last May, which saw an outburst of anti-Jewish hatred on social media.

In total, in 2021, the Diaspora Ministry’s monitoring system identified 3.5 million antisemitic posts in various languages.

In its report, the ministry says there is a correlation between violent speech on social media and violent actions in the public sphere against Jews, who are seen as collectively responsible for Israel’s actions.