Empathy or Hostility?: Attitudes toward Jews on Campuses before and after 10/7

• In Event: Antisemitism in American Politics

Abstract

Do student attitudes toward foreign countries predict attitudes toward the ethnic groups most closely associated with those countries? In particular, do student attitudes toward Israel correlate with attitudes typically associated with hostility toward Jews and Muslims? Using a random sample of undergraduates at four University of California campuses, this article explores the relationship between antisemitism and anti-Israel attitudes among students. Linear regression analyses indicate that criticism of Israel was a modest but statistically significant predictor of antisemitism. It also shows the two sets of attitudes are mostly separate. Similarly, support for Israel was a fairly strong predictor of Islamophobia. Since part of the survey was conducted after October 7, 2023, the study is also able to assess the independent effect of the Hamas massacre and its aftermath upon student attitudes. While both antisemitism and anti-Israel attitudes both rose significantly following the attack, the relationship between criticism of Israel and antisemitic beliefs was only statistically significant prior to October 7. In the group of respondents who were simultaneously critical of Israel and held antisemitic attitudes, Republicans, junior and senior students, Catholics, Muslims, and people who reported not having any contact with Jews were overrepresented in comparison to the overall sample. Those who fell into this category were also more likely to believe in conspiracy theories and held Xenophobic, racially resentful, and Islamophobic beliefs.

Authors

• Jeffrey Kopstein, University of California, Irvine

• Ana Schugurensky, University of California, Irvine

• Rachel Shenhav-Goldberg