( Roy Eidelson: Psychology for Human Rights) – Labeling criticism of Israel and expressions of support for Palestinian rights as “antisemitism” has apparently become the primary weapon of Israel advocacy organizations in the United States. These groups — among others, the Anti-Defamation League, Stand With Us, Canary Mission, Betar US and, in my own profession, Psychologists Against Antisemitism — are seemingly committed to denying or defending Israel’s genocidal assault in Gaza. In their efforts, they claim to represent the deepest concerns and convictions of the American Jewish community while promoting the narrative that Israel is a beleaguered bastion of decency and democracy.
But two new polls — one of American Jews and the other of Israeli Jews — put the lie to these deceptions.
First consider the poll of a representative sample of self-identified Jewish voters in the U.S., conducted by GBAO Strategies for the Jewish Voter Resource Center. A significant majority of the respondents were indeed very concerned about antisemitism. However, a closer examination reveals an important pattern. American Jews expressed more concern about antisemitism originating on the political right than on the political left.
Consistent with that perspective, they were less concerned about antisemitism on college campuses than antisemitism in the country more generally. And by a substantial margin, they viewed the Trump administration’s purported efforts to combat antisemitism — for example, withholding federal funding from universities and deporting pro-Palestinian protesters — as more likely to increase rather than decrease antisemitism.
Other findings from the same poll are also noteworthy. Most respondents described Trump as antisemitic. Less than half expressed a strong emotional attachment to Israel. A substantial majority saw Israel’s ongoing military action in Gaza as driven more by prime minister Netanyahu’s personal political considerations than by Israel’s national security concerns. And finally, an overwhelming percentage agreed that someone can be critical of the Israeli government and still be “pro-Israel.”
These poll results make one thing crystal clear: the broad and diverse American Jewish community is not focused on ensuring that criticism of Israel and expressions of support for Palestinian rights are silenced and punished. Yet this appears to be the overriding agenda of these Israel advocacy groups because, despite the unconscionable devastation of Gaza, they retain an unwavering commitment to promoting an idealized view of the State of Israel.
That’s why we shouldn’t expect these organizations to publicize three disturbing findings from the recent poll of a representative sample of Israeli Jews, conducted by the Israeli firm Geocartography Knowledge Group for the Pennsylvania State University.
First, over four-fifths of these respondents endorsed the forced expulsion of Gaza’s residents. Second, over half also favored the removal of Palestinian citizens of Israel from the country. And third, nearly half expressed support for the mass killing of all inhabitants of “enemy cities” captured by the Israeli army (a biblical nod to the destruction of Jericho). One can reasonably wonder about the extent to which these views reflect the abiding trauma of the horrifying attacks of October 7, 2023. But even if that’s true, such an explanation doesn’t change the ugly reality of what many Israeli Jews are willing to openly acknowledge they want today.
“Propaganda,” Digital, Midjourney, 2025
Taken together, I believe both polls reveal the duplicity of the campaign to ostracize and demonize those who stand against the Israeli genocide in Palestine. That campaign is now escalating — in Washington, DC, on university campuses, and within professional associations. Such efforts are not only morally vacuous. They’re also exceedingly dangerous because they downplay and distract from the very real threat posed by the Jew-hatred and racism of white supremacists, who are rapidly gaining greater influence in the United States and around the world.
Never again is now, and for every people.
Reprinted from Roy Eidelson: Psychology for Human Rights with the author’s permission.
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