Nearly half of people worldwide hold anti-Semitic views, with hatred of Jews doubling in a decade, a major survey has revealed.

Research by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) found that 46 per cent of adults globally – and one in eight in the UK (12 per cent) – have entrenched anti-Semitic beliefs.

This means an estimated 2.2 billion people worldwide, including 6.7 million UK adults, hold elevated anti-Semitic views, twice the 1.09 billion identified in 2014.

The record level of anti-Semitism uncovered by the ADL’s second Global 100 Index Score survey has led its directors to warn of a “global emergency” and to call on governments to act.

‘Global emergency’

Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the ADL, said: “Anti-Semitism is nothing short of a global emergency, especially in a post-October 7 world. We are seeing these trends play out from the Middle East to Asia, from Europe to North and South America”. 

Founded in 1913, the ADL is the world’s leading anti-hate organisation. Its latest poll of 58,000 adults across 103 countries measured belief in anti-Semitic tropes, identifying those who agreed with six or more of 11 negative stereotypes about Jews.

An average of 76 per cent in the Middle East and North Africa endorsed most tropes, including “Jews have too much power in business,” “Jews’ loyalty is only to Israel,” and “Jews have a lot of irritating faults”. This dropped to around half in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa, while in Western Europe, one in five adults still held significant anti-Semitic views.

The highest levels of hatred towards Jews were found in the West Bank and Gaza, and Kuwait (97 per cent), followed by Indonesia (96 per cent). The lowest was Sweden (5 per cent), while Norway, Canada, and the Netherlands were at 8 per cent.