Since October 7, 2023, antisemitism has risen sharply and in well-documented ways around the world. From university campuses in the United States to the streets of London, Paris, and Berlin, anti-Jewish incidents have spiked – both online and offline. In Israel, these developments are typically explained as the result of external forces: Qatari incitement, Islamist radicalization, or the polarizing dynamics of social media. Focusing only on these causes, however, overlooks a crucial dimension: the contribution of Israel’s current government to the conditions under which legitimate criticism of Israeli policy repeatedly slides into ethnic generalizations about Jews.

This is not to claim that the government creates antisemitism out of thin air. Antisemitism long predates this administration – and even the State of Israel itself. Yet the rhetoric and policies of the present government help create a context in which the slide from political critique to ethnic suspicion becomes easier. That contribution operates on two levels: the blurring of distinctions between the State of Israel and the Jewish people, and the way Benjamin Netanyahu himself is perceived internationally – especially in American political discourse.

The first level is rhetorical. In recent months, senior ministers have repeatedly framed the conflict in ethnoreligious rather than strictly political terms. Public........

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