Among the most intense hatred of Jews in recent memory occurred when the terrorist organization Hamas murdered hundreds of Jews in its Oct. 7, 2023, attacks against Israel, Worshill said. Yet antisemitism rages in America’s cities too.“You go into some places in the inner city, and you cannot be an orthodox Jew and walk down the street without getting attacked in some way, shape or form,” he said. “It’s getting so obvious and so prominent.” In Christian circles, Worshill claimed, replacement theology makes the ground fertile for antisemitism. 

NASHVILLE (BP) – The tide of antisemitism is rising on the American political right, according to some conservative politicians and commentators.

“There are activists on the political left, and have been for years, that have been pretty aggressive on their antisemitism,” said Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., in an interview with Baptist Press. “We saw this in the explosion on college campuses after Oct. 7 two years ago … We have seen it now rise on the right just in social media posts and people promoting more antisemitic tropes. That is very concerning.”

Conservative media outlets have echoed Lankford’s concern. This fall, a Wall Street Journal op-ed bemoaned “the MAGA right’s antisemitism problem.” Conservative columnist Rod Dreher wrote that rightwing antisemitism “is not going to burn out on its own; it must be stopped.” World reported on a “conservative rift over anti-Semitism.”

Others are more cautious in their assessment of how far antisemitism has infiltrated the political right. Yet evangelical commentators agree that followers of Jesus must stem the tide.

‘High-Profile’ Antisemitism

Discussion of anti-Jewish prejudice came to the fore following the appearance of far-right political commentator Nick Fuentes on conservative commentator Tucker Carlson’s podcast. Fuentes bemoaned the influence of “organized Jewry in America” while also claiming there is “no harbor for cruelty, hatred [or] prejudice” in the nation.

Controversy erupted at the conservative thinktank The Heritage Foundation after the organization’s president, Kevin Roberts, defended Carlson for interviewing Fuentes. Roberts later denounced antisemitism. Still, the National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism disaffiliated with Heritage amid the episode.

Following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk this fall, Gateway Seminary President Adam Groza denounced “anti-Semitic conspiracy theories” about Kirk’s death circulating online. “Centuries-old anti-Semitic conspiracies” are “spreading online with alarming speed and ease,” he wrote in a BP column, “including (and sadly) among Christians.”

Other alleged conservative purveyors of anti-Jewish rhetoric include rapper Kanye West and podcaster Candace Owens, World reported.

Antisemitism on college campuses has surged to record levels, according to a report by the Anti-Defamation Leage, an organization that documents and combats anti-Jewish prejudice. Anti-Israel incidents of assault, vandalism, harassment and protest increased 628 percent between June 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024. The incidents “included both blatant acts of antisemitism, as well as anti-Israel activity, which is not always antisemitic.”

Does the flurry of political analysis on antisemitism mean is it a fundamentally political issue? Absolutely not, says Gary Hollingsworth, interim president of the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC).

“There have been some very high-profile examples of antisemitism on the right wing of our political spectrum recently, but let’s not forget that the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish protests on college campuses in 2024 came from the left-wing of the political spectrum,” Hollingsworth said. “This is not a right-left issue, but ultimately a sin issue.”

He cited FBI statistics stating that anti-Jewish hate crimes increased 63 percent in the U.S. from 2023-2024, and that one third of American Jews reported being personally targeted by antisemitism in the past year.

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