Study Finds Strong Link Between Conspiracy Beliefs, Antisemitism and Anti-Israel Attitudes

New research from Rutgers University–Newark psychologist Kent Harber reveals a strong connection between conspiracy theories, antisemitic attitudes, and hostility toward Israel.

Published in American Psychologist, the flagship publication of the American Psychological Association, the set of three studies draws from more than 1,000 adults surveyed across the United States.

Harber’s study was prompted by a well-documented global rise in antisemitism since the early 2010s, accompanied by violent attacks against Jews in the U.S. and elsewhere, including the bombing of synagogues. 

“Concurrent with this is a growing anti-Jewish animosity that has been mounting hostility toward Israel,’’ added Harber, who has also researched conspiracy theories linked to COVID-19 and whose latest study focuses on psychological mechanisms and patterns associated with antisemitism.

“Our findings offer an evidence-based framework for understanding how these attitudes intersect—and how conspiracy beliefs can serve as a powerful and enduring bridge between them,’’ said Harber, who co-authored the study with Thomas Malloy, Dominka Bulska, and Valeria Villa, a Rutgers graduate student supervised by Harber.

According to Harber, a psychology professor at Rutgers University–Newark, antisemitism channeled through conspiracy beliefs about Israel and its supporters explained more than 55 percent of anti-Israel attitudes across all three studies.

“This is a very large effect for psychological research,’’ said Harber. “Our research shows that a meaningful quantum of hostility to Israel is infused with antisemitism, and that the link between antisemitism, conspiracy beliefs, and hostility toward Israel is predictive, reliable, and strong.’’

Harber emphasized that not all criticisms of Israel and its government are inherently antisemitic. His team’s goal was not to suppress legitimate debate but to encourage greater awareness, he said.

“People can have legitimate reasons for being critical of Israel, just like any other country,” he said. “Even unfair or ill-informed hostility to Israel does not necessarily reveal antisemitism.”

He also stressed that the findings are correlational and do not explain causality. 

“Antisemitism might cause anti-Israel attitudes, or anger toward Israel might cause dislike of Jews, or perhaps some other conditions cause both,” Harber said.

His team’s research offers new evidence that conspiracy theories continue to fuel and shape expressions of antisemitism. Throughout history, conspiracy theories have been used to scapegoat Jews, blaming them for everything from the Black Plague to the 9/11 attacks and the assassination of Charlie Kirk, said Harber.

His study focuses on a set of self-reported attitude surveys measuring three things: antipathy toward Jews that’s unrelated to Israel — which Harber refers to as “classic antisemitism” — anti-Israel sentiment, and belief in conspiracy theories involving Jews and Israel.

Study subjects were chosen from throughout the U.S. and mirrored the nation’s racial and ethnic demographics, as well as religious and political affiliations. The average age was between 32 and 40.

The first study tested participants on established measures of antisemitism, including statements drawn from the Selznick and Steinberg antisemitism scale, created in 1969. It tested agreement with statements such as, “Jewish people make too much of a big deal about being oppressed” and “You can tell if people are Jewish by how they look.’’

The second measure involved the anti-Israel subscale of the Middle East Opinion Survey, developed by Harber, which includes dubious accusations  and statements attributing malign motives to Israel.

Harber and his team found that classic antisemitism and anti-Israel attitudes were related. But bridging the two were conspiracy beliefs about Israel and pro-Israel Jews.

Bogus conspiracy theories developed by Harber and his team included survey statements such as, “Israel created COVID-19 as a weapon against Palestine” and “Israel started the war in Gaza to summon the coming of a Jewish Messiah.”

Harber’s study tested how survey results would unfold over time as a way to more rigorously measure the relationship between antisemitic and anti-Israel attitudes.

“This predictive relationship shows that knowing a person’s attitudes toward Jews today can help predict their feelings about Israel in the future,” said Harber.

“It also helps rule out momentary explanations, such as subjects being in a temporarily bad mood or seeing a particularly upsetting news story about the Middle East when they completed the research,” he explained.

Harber’s team found that antisemitic beliefs measured at the start of the study predicted conspiracy beliefs four weeks later, and that the conspiracy beliefs, in turn, predicted anti-Israel attitudes four weeks after that.

The research also uncovered ideological differences. Among Republican respondents, antisemitic beliefs were slightly more prevalent, but anti-Israel sentiment was less pronounced.

In contrast, Democrat participants showed lower levels of antisemitism but stronger hostility toward Israel and a greater endorsement of anti-Israel conspiracy beliefs.