Report: Anti-Semitism Is 'Disturbingly High' In Europe

A new poll released from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Tuesday found "disturbingly high" rates of anti-Semitism in 10 European countries. The opinion survey, which took into account 5,000 adults' views (500 in each country) on a variety of issues, found that large portions of Europe embrace "classical anti-Semitic notions."

The ADL reports that these "notions" include a belief in the idea that Jews have too much power in the business world and are more loyal to the Israeli homeland than their own country of residence. Additionally, the poll found that many of the respondents believe that Jews speak too much about what happened during the Holocaust.

In a report called "Attitudes Toward Jews in Ten European Countries," the results, which were collected from Jan. 2-31, are fully explained. According to the ADL, these anti-Semitic beliefs are held by nearly one-third of respondents. The countries included in the study were: Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom.

The results for the "Jews are more loyal to Israel than to this country" question can be seen, below:

Among respondents in Hungary, 73 percent answered that it is "probably true" that "Jews have too much power in the business world." The proportion for Spain was 60 percent. While this indicator has decreased in some countries, it is up in the United Kingdom (20 percent in 2012 versus 15 percent in 2009) and has ticked up slightly in Germany (22 percent in 2012 versus 21 percent in 2009).

There were also some intriguing results when individuals were asked to weigh on on whether Jews have too much power in international financial markets. According to the findings, 75 percent of Hungarian respondents said that this is "probably true" as did 67 percent of Spaniards. The lowest proportion was in the Netherlands (17 percent). 

"The survey is disturbing by the fact that anti-Semitism remains at high levels across the continent and infects many Europeans at a much higher level than we see here in the United States," explained Abraham H. Foxman, ADL's National Director.  "In Hungary, Spain and Poland the numbers for anti-Semitic attitudes are literally off-the-charts and demand a serious response from political, civic and religious leaders."

The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4.43 and +/- 4.85, depending on each country. Read the entire study here.

All charts in this article come from the ADL's "Attitudes Toward Jews in Ten European Countries" report.