New antisemitic meme has Jews claiming items ‘promised 3,000 years ago’

A trend of antisemitic AI-generated memes is spreading rapidly across social media, portraying Jewish people as greedy, dishonest, or delusional, according to CyberWell, a nonprofit that works with social platforms to combat antisemitism online.

The “Promised 3,000 years ago” trend uses AI-generated caricatures of Orthodox Jewish men, often paired with the Jewish folk song “Hava Nagila,” to mock Jewish identity and reinforce harmful stereotypes, CyberWell said. The memes depict Jewish figures claiming ownership over absurd objects, such as cities, cars, soda cans, babies, and even the Moon, while exaggerating physical features associated with antisemitic tropes.

Antisemitic messages of different types have overrun social media networks in recent years, particularly since Hamas launched its war against Israel on October 7, 2023. Platforms like Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok have worked to improve their moderation of messages that violate their standards, but still frequently fall short. Even Wikipedia, the collaborative online encyclopedia, has struggled to fight antisemitic bias.

The new trope is intended to mock and trivialize the religious and historical ties Jews have to the land of Israel, which form a core element of Israel’s ongoing conflict with the Palestinians, CyberWell said. It implies that Jews manipulate ancient claims to assert dominance, making the phrase shorthand for illegitimacy, greed, and delusion.

One widely shared video posted on Instagram by Mohamed Hadid to his 1.5 million followers shows Jews claiming lawn chairs, sandwiches, watches and a baby, and concludes with a Hasidic Jew stating, “I was promised six million followers on TikTok 3,000 years ago,” an oblique reference to the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust.

Another shows an AI-generated Jewish man taking a woman’s dog, claiming it was “promised to him 3,000 years ago.”

????????Knn, everything was promised to them 3000 years ago… pic.twitter.com/ZuAFU8BqWr

— ❌️ (@MotulX22) August 7, 2025

CyberWell said that social media platforms do not currently classify this AI-generated trend as violating bullying or harassment policies, taking the position that fictional characters fall outside existing rules. However, the company said, platform policies explicitly prohibit spreading historically harmful stereotypes and mocking the deaths of specific groups.

“This latest trend highlights a broader challenge for social media platforms: AI tools are making it increasingly difficult to monitor and control harmful content at scale,” said CyberWell Founder and CEO Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor.

“Relying on users to report hate has proven to be a complete failure, contributing to waves of real-world violence amplified by algorithms that thrive on outrage. Now, antisemites and extremists are exploiting AI tools to spread and intensify hate.”

Cohen Montemayor called on platforms to adjust their policies to better police these types of videos.

“If social media platforms do not invest in stronger and faster response mechanisms, similar to efforts made to combat revenge porn, this creative abuse of AI will continue to reach billions,” she said. “In the era of AI, slow and reactive Trust and Safety enforcement and policy updates are no longer acceptable.”