New survey finds people holding very negative opinions of Israel are more likely to be antisemitic

A new survey finds “an important minority of Canadians” channel strong negative sentiment towards Israel into negative views of Jews. Israel Independence Day begins the evening of April 30, marking the Jewish state’s 77th birthday, amid a tide of antisemitism in Canada and elsewhere. “While people certainly have the right to criticize the government of Israel, it’s a serious problem when it descends into antisemitism,” said Jack Jedwab, the president and CEO of the Association for Canadian Studies and the Metropolis Institute, in an email. Two surveys by Leger Marketing for the Association for Canadian Studies examine Canadians’ views on Israel, Judaism, and Jews, and explore the connections between opinions of Israel and attitudes toward Judaism and Jews. They also investigate the impact of Holocaust awareness on shaping these attitudes. Since October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacks triggered the Israel-Hamas conflict, there has been a significant increase in hate crimes targeting Jews across Canada. Of the 1,284 police-reported religion-based hate crimes in Canada in 2023, an alarming 900 targeted Jews, according to the most recent Statistics Canada report. The first Leger survey, conducted on March 1-2, 2025, asked questions of 1,548 Canadians. The second survey took place between April 17-19 and involved 1,603 Canadians. One of the findings is that most people who hold a very negative opinion of Israel had the most negative views of Judaism. One survey found that the majority of people holding a negative view of Judaism hold negative views of Jews. “The study confirms some links between anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sentiment. The observation requires some nuance and is complex, as most Canadians holding negative sentiments toward Israel do not hold very negative sentiments toward Jews. Nonetheless, an important minority of Canadians do indeed channel strong negative sentiment towards Israel into negative views of Jews,” said Jedwab. “There is a point at which negative sentiment towards Israel translates into an anti-Jewish sentiment.” The second survey found that older Canadians more likely to view relations between Canada and Israel, as well as between non-Jewish Canadians and Jewish Canadians, positively rather than negatively. The surveys also looked at how francophones and Quebecers perceived Jews and Judaism. The survey found that 55 per cent of French-Canadians hold a negative view of Israel, compared to 42 per cent of English Canadians. Quebecers are more likely than the residents of other provinces to assess relations between Jewish and non-Jewish Canadians negatively. Quebecers are also the most likely to have a negative view of Israel. Francophones in Canada are also somewhat more likely to have negative opinions of Judaism and Jews, according to the surveys. Richard Marceau, vice-president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said one factor is the “lack of contact” between francophones and Jews. “Seventy-five per cent of Quebec Jews are English speaking as a first language,” he said. Another reason, according to Marceau, is that “francophones, especially in Quebec, tend to have, generally speaking, a more negative view of religion.” Quebec’s secular stance is reflected in public support for laws like Bill 21, which restricts public officials and certain public sector employees, such as teachers, from wearing religious symbols at work. The survey found that people who responded they had good knowledge of the Holocaust viewed Jews, Israel and Judaism more favourably. Marceau said education is an important tool in combating antisemitism. He said that there is generally a lack of understanding about Jews. “Holocaust education to me is central, because the entire post-World War 2 infrastructure in terms of protection of human rights flew from what we saw in the Holocaust.” He also said Canada needs better protection of Jewish institutions and a stricter enforcement of existing laws. He also advocates for making the glorification of terrorism a crime. “It’s not normal that synagogues are vandalized, that Jewish-owned businesses … are vandalized. It’s not normal that to go to synagogue, you actually have to go through different layers of security just to go in to pray,” said Marceau, “It is the promise of Canada that is being broken towards the Jewish people.” He added that antisemitism impacts all Canadians, not just Jews. “I think a lot of Canadians see it as a frontal attack on what Canada stands for.”

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