Casey Babb is an international fellow with the Glazer Israel-China Policy Center at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv and an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London, England.
Since the heinous terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent operations in Gaza, there has been a surge in antisemitic incidents worldwide. From a foiled plot to attack Jewish sites throughout Europe, to gunshots outside an Albany synagogue on Hanukkah, to the news of a minor being charged with terrorism-related offences after planning to attack Ottawa’s Jewish community, antisemitism has once again reared its ugly head – this time with a vengeance. Yet, despite these episodes, the fact the Holocaust only ended 78 years ago and that the deadliest day for Jews since that time happened just over two months ago, hatred of Jews, Judaism, and Israel remains woefully understood and its implications dangerously underappreciated. Indeed, antisemitism as a guiding ideology and world view has been a precursor or antecedent to large-scale terrorist attacks, war, and even genocide. So, why is it then that antisemitism isn’t treated as a significant threat to national security that can and often does lead to deadly........