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Survey shows Democrats much likelier than Republicans to see antisemitism as a problem
(JTA) — A national survey found that Democrats are twice as likely as Republicans to agree that prejudice against Jews is a serious problem and that antisemitism poses a growing threat to Jews.
The divide between Republicans and Democrats in the Quinnipiac University survey released Wednesday tracks with previous polling — but it also comes after weeks of antisemitic invective from the rapper and designer Kanye West, who now identifies as a Christian conservative and who has courted Republicans.
It also comes after former President Donald Trump, a Republican, dined with West, who is now known as Ye, and Nick Fuentes, a prominent Holocaust denier, and after multiple government and nonprofit groups have reported spikes in reported attacks on Jews.
The survey released Wednesday showed 83% of Democrats identifying prejudice against Jews as a very serious or somewhat serious problem. Just 44% of Republicans agreed with those assessments. Overall, a substantive majority, 60%, agreed that prejudice against Jews is a serious problem.
A similar divide characterized a question about whether antisemitism “represents a growing threat to Jewish Americans,” with 73% of Democrats saying that it does, as opposed to 34% of Republicans. Overall, 51% of respondents said it represented a growing threat.
Quinnipiac University, based in Hamden, Connecticut, has been asking versions of questions about prejudice against Jews since 2017, when it started tracking assessments of prejudice against a number of minority groups in the wake of the election of Trump, who during his campaign and presidency made bigoted statements.
In August 2019, after a year of deadly attacks on synagogues in Pittsburgh and Poway, California, 48% of Republicans classified anti-Jewish prejudice as a serious problem, while 78% of Democrats did.
In 2017, the pollsters asked the question twice, once in February just after Trump assumed office and then a month later after a series of bomb threats against Jewish institutions, and a vandal destroyed headstones in a St. Louis Jewish cemetery. Trump made headlines when he shouted down reporters who asked about the perceived rise in antisemitism. The overall number of respondents classifying prejudice against Jews as serious rose from 49% to 70% in that period.
In the March 9, 2017, survey, after the bomb threats and the vandalism, and Trump’s press conference, 53% of Republicans said prejudice against Jews was a serious problem and 87% of Democrats did.
The new survey marks the first time Quinnipiac has asked respondents whether antisemitism “represents a growing threat to Jewish Americans.” It was also the first of the surveys to use the word “antisemitism.”
The survey reached of 1,614 U.S. adults, including 1,456 registered voters, by phone between Dec. 8-12. It has a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points.
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Canada Boosts Security at US, Israeli Diplomatic Buildings After Consulate Shooting
A member of law enforcement personnel works at the scene outside the US Consulate after shots were fired, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, March 10, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. Photo: REUTERS/Kyaw Soe Oo
Canada is increasing security around US and Israeli diplomatic buildings after a shooting at the US consulate in Toronto, a Canadian police official said on Tuesday.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Chief Superintendent Chris Leather said the consulate shooting is being investigated as a “national security incident,” although it’s too early to determine the motive.
Leather said the US and Israeli consulates in Toronto, the country’s most populous city, and embassies in the capital Ottawa will be seeing a change in the security posture in response to the shooting.
“These consulates deserve a heightened amount of vigilance and security at this time in the hopes that we can bring the temperature down in the coming days and weeks,” Leather told reporters at a press conference.
Toronto Police Deputy Chief Frank Barredo said police were called to the US consulate in Toronto around 5:30 am ET on Tuesday, where they found spent shell casings and damage to the building.
Barredo said witness evidence indicated that two men exited a white SUV that was stopped outside the consulate around 4:30 am ET, shot a handgun at the front of the building and then drove away.
While there were people in the building at the time of the shooting, police say no one was injured.
SYNAGOGUE SHOOTINGS
The consulate shooting follows three separate incidents last week where gunshots were fired at synagogues in the Toronto area. No one was injured in those shootings. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called the attacks “criminal antisemitic assaults.”
Barredo said it’s too early to draw a connection between the consulate shooting and those at the synagogues.
“We definitely will be looking at any possible connections. Obviously, it is far too early in this investigation, but we do not look at them in isolation,” he said.
Canada‘s public safety minister described the consulate shooting as an unacceptable incident.
“The shooting … is absolutely unacceptable. Canada will never tolerate intimidation and violence of any kind, including towards our American friends in Canada,” Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said in a post on X.
The US State Department said in a statement that it was aware of the incident and was closely monitoring the situation in coordination with local law enforcement.
Separately, on Sunday, an improvised device exploded in Norway at the US embassy in Oslo, and police were still searching for a suspect, with a possible link to the Iran war among the lines of inquiry.
In New York City, two men have been charged with terrorism after throwing a homemade bomb at anti-Islam protesters over the weekend.
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Suspected Hamas Member Detained in Cyprus Over Weapons Procurement
Palestinian Hamas terrorists stand guard at a site as Hamas says it continues to search for the bodies of deceased hostages, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, Dec. 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stringer
Cypriot authorities have detained a suspected member of Palestinian terrorist group Hamas wanted in Germany for procuring weapons and ammunition for attacks on Israeli or Jewish facilities, German federal prosecutors said on Tuesday.
The Lebanese-born suspect, identified only as Kamel M. in line with German privacy rules, was detained at Cyprus‘ Larnaca airport on March 6, arriving from Lebanon, they added in a statement.
The suspect is wanted in relation to the transport of 300 rounds of live ammunition, according to prosecutors. It wasn’t clear from the statement where the rounds had come from, or where they were thought to be heading.
“The operation served as preparation for deadly Hamas attacks on Israeli or Jewish institutions in Germany and Europe,” they said.
Police also searched the suspect’s apartment in Berlin.
Once Kamel M. is extradited to Germany, a judge will decide on pre-trial detention, the statement said.
Attacks against Jews and Jewish targets have risen worldwide since Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, triggered by the Islamist group’s 2023 attacks on Israel.
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Russia Told Trump It Isn’t Sharing US Military Asset Info With Iran, Says Witkoff
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attend a documents signing ceremony in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool
Russia has denied sharing intelligence with Iran on US military assets in the Middle East, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Tuesday in a CNBC interview.
Witkoff said the denial came during a phone call that US President Donald Trump had with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
The Washington Post reported on Friday that Russia was providing Iran with targeting information that included locations of US warships and aircraft in the Middle East.
“Yesterday on the call with the president, the Russians said that they have not been sharing,” Witkoff said when asked if Washington thought Russia had shared with Tehran intelligence about the location of US military assets.
“We can take them at their word. But they did say that. And yesterday morning, independently, Jared [Kushner] and I had a call with [Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri] Ushakov who reiterated the same,” said Witkoff.
He added: “That’s a better question for the intel people, but let’s hope that they’re not sharing.”