The Super Bowl kicks off tonight, and it’s almost hard to believe that the Jewish community feels compelled to buy incredibly expensive airtime just to run an ad against the surging tide of antisemitism in the US.
The numbers tell the story: According to FBI data, while Jews make up only about 2% of the population, in 2024 they were the targets of roughly 70% of all religiously motivated hate crimes. The term "antisemitism" was coined by German journalist Wilhelm Marr in 1879.
If you had visited Europe at the turn of the 20th century, you would never have guessed that the Holocaust would happen in Germany. At the time, antisemitism in Russia and France was seen as far more toxic and dangerous. But in a radical shift between the world wars leading up to the rise of Nazism, Germany became a breeding ground for lethal hatred.
High alert
Professor Saul Friedländer famously called this "Redemptive Antisemitism," because the Nazis promised the world "salvation," contingent upon the total annihilation of the Jewish people. Antisemitism is a social phenomenon that is notoriously difficult to predict. We never quite know when it will erupt, how intense that eruption will be, or what the practical consequences will be for Jews living in that country. And that is exactly why we need to be on high alert.
When modern-day America reaches a point where it needs an anti-hate ad during the Super Bowl, arguably the most-watched sporting event on the planet, it serves as a dire warning for all of us. Since October 7, the waves of antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment have merged into a single front, attacking Jews from both sides: the radical left and the Islamist axis on one hand, and the fascist right on the other. Both are often fueled by Qatari, Iranian, or Chinese funding, or simply by "agents of chaos."
Being pro-active on antisemitism
The State of Israel was founded as the national home for the Jewish people. As such, we must be proactive in the global fight against antisemitism. This cannot be about empty rhetoric. It requires boots-on-the-ground action: establishing a comprehensive public diplomacy (Hasbara) apparatus, significantly strengthening our foreign service, and building strategic partnerships with influencers, the business sector, and friendly governments worldwide.
We must act with far more sophistication and assertion right now, as this "age-old hatred" is now inextricably linked to the denial of the Jewish state’s right to exist. Part of our post-October 7 "reckoning" must involve a commitment to mutual responsibility with Diaspora Jewry. We have to realize that we are one ecosystem, and what happens to one of us profoundly impacts the other.
Dr. Yoav Heller is a historian, chairman of the Fourth Quarter Movement, and former chairman of the Wingate Institute.