by Nick Gier, Professor Emeritus, University of Idaho
Elon Musk is the most dangerous antisemite in this country.
—Jewish journalist Elad Nehorai (December 5, 2025)
Trump has unleashed the darkest forces in
America . . . and the Jews will be in the middle.
—Jewish columnist Robert Zaretsky, The Forward (November 26, 2025)
In December 1918, Emir Faisal, later to become Iraq’s king, met with Zionist leader Chaim Weitzmann in London. At a banquet in Faisal’s honor, he declared that the Jews, as members of the same “semitic family,” were welcome to return to their historical homeland.
While fully supporting Jewish nationalism, the British reneged on its promise to Faisal to free the Arabs from colonial rule and respect Palestinian rights. Because of this betrayal, Faisal later regretted his warm welcome.
Antisemitism in a Broad Sense
Antisemitism in the broadest sense would be discrimination against or hatred of any person of the semitic race. This bilateral antisemitism has grown dramatically since Hamas’ murderous attack on October 7, 2023.
After October 7, anti-Muslim hate speech spiked at 422% on X under hashtags such as #BanIslam, #LevelGaza, #DeathtoMuslims, and #MuslimPig. Pamela Gellar’s false post “Jewish Babes Held in Muslim Cages” drew 500 likes.
Since October 7, and anti-Jewish posts on X went up 939% under hashtags such as #IsraeliNewNazism, #ZionistsAreEvil, #DeathtoJews, and #HitlerWasRight. Since Elon Musk’s acquisition of X in 2023, antisemitic content has doubled but only 14% have been taken down.
Attacks on Synagogues and Mosques
The FBI reported that since 2023 anti-Jewish hate crimes have increased by 63%. Over the last ten years the Anti-Defamation League has recorded an astounding 893% increase in antisemitic assault, harassment and vandalism in the U.S.
Across the world there have been, in the last eight years, fatal attacks on mosques, synagogues, and Jewish gatherings. On December 14, an attack on Jews celebrating Hanakka on an Australian beach led to 15 confirmed dead and 42 injured. The assassins were a man and his son influenced by the Islamic State.
On October 2, 2025, a man inspired by the Islamic State killed two at a synagogue in Manchester, England. On October 27, 2018, a white supremacist shot and killed eleven Jews attending a service at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.
On March 15, 2019, a white supremacist shot and killed 51 at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. On June 19, 2017, one died and many others injured when a man drove a van into worshippers leaving a London mosque.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) was rightly condemned for her suggestion that Jewish students at Columbia University supported Palestinian genocide. Equally deplorable was Columbia professor Joseph Massad who praised Hamas’ military prowess. Although he later apologized for this choice of words, Cornell history professor Russell Rickford declared that he was exhilarated by Hamas’ attack.
American Jewish Opinion
Reasoned criticism of Israel, however, is not antisemitic, and brief look at American Jewish opinion proves the point. A Washington Post poll of Jewish Americans two months ago indicated that nearly half disapproved Israel’s war in in Gaza, and 61% believed that “Israel has committed war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.” Are these Jews antisemitic? Reductio ad absurdum.
I believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is Israel’s Trump, and many Jews agree with me. In a recent survey 66% of those polled believed that he should leave politics altogether and face the criminal charges against him. Israel’s Supreme Court, unlike ours, is holding firm in prosecuting Netanyahu.
Musk Allows Hate on X
Elon Musk is now allowing anti-Jewish posts on X, and Jewish journalist Elad Nehorai has called him “the most dangerous antisemite in the U.S.” After watching a video that argued that the Nazis didn’t really want to exterminate the Jews, Musk recommended it saying, “very interesting, worth watching.”
Antisemites such as Andrew Anglin, founder of the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer, and David Icke, an antisemitic conspiracy proponent, have now returned to X. Mar-a-Lago guest Nick Fuentes is a Holocaust denier who once declared that the “perfidious Jews” should be executed (X, May 2, 2024).
The Case of Paul Ingrassia
In October investigators at Politico discovered text messages by pro-Trump attorney Paul Ingrassia that revealed that he had a “Nazi streak.” He immediately withdrew his nomination to become head of the Office of Special Counsel. That did not dissuade Trump from appointing him as deputy general counsel of the General Services Administration the next month.
Young Republicans’ Antisemitism
The organization Young Republicans has sometimes been known for its juvenile behavior, but Politico has recently released 2,900 pages of chats that “reveal a culture of racist, antisemitic and violent rhetoric.”
Here are some examples: “Can we fix the showers? Gas chambers don’t fit the Hitler aesthetic,” wrote Joe Maligno, general counsel for the New York State Young Republicans. “I love Hitler” wrote Peter Giunta, chief of staff to New York state Assemblymember Mike Reilly. Giunta referred to a Maryland delegate as a “fat stinky Jew.”
Trump’s Attack on Universities
Regarding Trump’s attack on American universities for being antisemitic, I again rely on American Jewish opinion. In a September poll 60% “opposed the administration’s withholding of funds from universities, and three-quarters believed that the administration was using this to crack down on academic freedom and not out of genuine concern for antisemitism.”
British scholar Kenneth S. Stern, a leading authority on the definition of antisemitism, submits that Trump’s weaponizing of the term would “harm not only pro-Palestinian advocates, but also Jewish students and faculty, and the academy itself.”
In April 2025, ten major Jewish-American organizations objected to Trump’s university policies with this statement: “These actions do not make Jews safer. Rather, they only make us less safe.”
In her ruling demanding that Trump restore funding to Harvard University, Judge Allison Bourroughs concluded: “The Trump administration used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically motivated assault on this country’s premier universities.”
Trump’s Anti-Jewish Tropes
For decades Trump has used anti-Jewish tropes in his crude rhetoric. He would blame the Jews for “voting for the enemy” if he lost the 2024 election; a 2016 ad poster against Hillary Clinton mixed money and Stars of David; and he once contrasted “fine bankers” with “Shylocks and bad people.”
In a 2016 text JD Vance called “America’s Hitler,” but now he joins Trump in antisemitic language and actions. Recently, Vance agreed to write a blurb for a book praising Spanish dictator Francisco Franco for his anti-Communism but playing down his repression of the Jews. Vance praised the author for “showing us what to do to fight back,” presumably to preserve Christianity.
Jewish columnist Robert Zaretsky declares that Trump “has unleashed the darkest forces in America . . . and the Jews will be in the middle.”
Nick Gier of Moscow taught religion and philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years. He has more articles on Israel at bit.ly/4oyn9rY. Even more can be read at nfgier.com. Email him at ngier006∂gmail.com.