TEL AVIV – Coronavirus lockdowns last year shifted some anti-Semitic hatred online, where conspiracy theories blaming Jews for the pandemic’s medical and economic devastation abounded, Israeli researchers reported Wednesday.
That’s raised concerns about a rise in anti-Semitism in the post-pandemic world. The findings, which came in an annual report by Tel Aviv University's researchers on anti-Semitism, show that the social isolation of the pandemic kept Jews away from those who wish to harm them.
The number of violent incidents toward Jews across some 40 countries dropped last year, from 456 to 371 — roughly the same levels the researchers reported from 2016 to 2018.