Nearly all Jews surveyed in 13-country EU poll say they’ve experienced antisemitism

By Canaan Lidor 11 July 2024, 10:32 am

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Canaan Lidor is a former Jewish World reporter at The Times of Israel

A protester holds a placard reading 'Twelve years old and already a victim of antisemitic hate' at a rally to condemn the alleged antisemitic gang rape of a 12-year-old girl outside the Paris city hall, June 19, 2024. (Alain Jocard / AFP)

In a survey of nearly 8,000 people who self-identified as Jews from 13 European countries, 96% of respondents say they encounter antisemitism in their daily lives.

Some 37% of respondents say they were harassed and 4% say they were attacked in the previous year because they are Jewish. The survey is published today by the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union.

Most respondents say they worry for their own (53%) and their family’s (60%) safety and security.

Three-quarters feel that people hold them responsible for the Israeli government’s actions because they are Jewish, they say in the survey, which took place before the Hamas attacks on October but includes information on antisemitism collected from Jewish organizations in 2024.

Just over half of respondents indicate they think that “criticizing Israel” is “probably antisemitic.” A pattern of “always noting who is Jewish among [one’s] acquaintances” is deemed as such by 64%, and not considering Jewish citizens as compatriots is indicated as “definitely antisemitic” by 91% of respondents.

The countries surveyed are: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Sweden.