When Does Anti-Zionism Become Antisemitism? Evidence from Self-Identified American Christians

Abstract

Abstract

This article examines how anti-Zionist sentiment and antisemitism relate among self-identified American Christians, drawing on an original 2024 survey of roughly 2000 respondents. The survey included multiple antisemitic tropes and Israel-related statements measuring severe anti-Israel and anti-Zionist sentiment. Using generalized ordered logistic regression, we find a strong and escalating association between anti-Zionist sentiment and antisemitic trope endorsement across multiple levels of antisemitic intensity. Respondents who express stronger opposition to Israel are significantly more likely to affirm classical antisemitic stereotypes involving Jewish power, dual loyalty, or financial control. Supersessionist beliefs are likewise associated with greater antisemitic sentiment, with the relationship becoming especially pronounced at higher levels of antisemitism. In contrast, the traditional deicide belief does not emerge as a statistically significant correlate once broader theological and political attitudes are taken into account. Younger Christians, urban residents, and Southerners exhibit higher antisemitism, while education, age, and female gender are associated with lower levels. Taken together, the findings show that anti-Zionism and antisemitism are often empirically intertwined within contemporary American Christianity, particularly at more extreme levels. Because the data are cross-sectional, the results should be interpreted as associations rather than causal effects.