Besides noting that Jews’ sense of security is affected by the Israeli-Arab conflict in Belgium and France to a considerably larger extent than in the other countries, we should note that more than 1 / 3 of the Jewish respondents in Sweden state that the Israeli-Arab conflict affects their sense of security“ a great deal” – the third highest level after Belgium and France – whereas the figure in Hungary is considerably lower, just over 12 %.
As shown below in Figure 20 this discrepancy becomes even more marked when we focus on the tendency to blame Jews in European countries for anything done by the Israeli government.
In this context, the relatively recent concept” New antisemitism” comes to mind. This is a concept that attempts to capture a new form of antisemitism that has developed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This kind of " new antisemitism” manifests itself mainly as opposition to Zionism and the State of Israel. The concept generally posits that much of what purports to be criticism of Israel by various individuals and groups, is, in fact, tantamount to demonization of the State of Israel, and that results in attacks on Jews and Jewish symbols outside” the Jewish state” as well.
Several concerned Jewish scholars and intellectuals have criticized the concept, arguing that it conflates anti-Zionism with antisemitism, defines legitimate criticism of Israel too narrowly and demonization too broadly, trivializes the meaning of antisemitism, and exploits antisemitism in order to silence political debate about Israeli actions and policies. 8
Although, as we have just demonstrated, many Jews in Europe are, as a matter of fact, often blamed for“ anything done by the Israeli government” we share the critique of the concept of“ new antisemitism”. It is too broad-based, its connotations are too wide and it comprises too much to be useful for our purpose. To capture the phenomenon we have actually observed, i. e. that Jews in Europe are attacked, verbally or physically, just because they are Jews, because of what those who attack them perceive the state of Israel is or does, we need a more precise concept – a concept that does not include criticism of Israel or of Zionism as such.
We will call this particular kind of antisemitism Israel-derived antisemitism.
8 Klug, B.( 2004). The Myth of the New Anti-Semitism, in The Nation, February, Klug, B.( 2012). Interrogating
“ New Anti-Semitism”, in Ethnic and Racial Studies, October, Lerner, M.( 2007). There Is No New Anti- Semitism, in The Baltimore Chronicle, 2 February and Lehrman, A.( 2008). Jews attacking Jews, in Ha ' aretz, 12 September.
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