The Return of Antisemitism Is a Warning to Every Democracy

TL;DR — Since the October 7, 2023 attacks, antisemitic incidents have reached record levels across Europe and the United States. Echoing historian Deborah Lipstadt’s warning that antisemitism is “the canary in the coal mine” for democracy, this op-ed argues one thing: hatred of Jews is never only a Jewish problem. Where it thrives, trust in institutions, shared truth and the rule of law all erode. Fighting it means defending democracy itself.

One number, then another, then a pattern

You can argue endlessly about how to define antisemitism. You can argue far less about the counters. In the United Kingdom, the Community Security Trust (CST) recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents in 2024, the second-highest annual total in its history, behind the all-time record of 4,296 in 2023, the year of Hamas’s attack on Israel. The monthly average, which hovered around 154 cases before October 7, has nearly doubled.

In France, the Service de Protection de la Communauté Juive (SPCJ) counted 1,570 antisemitic acts in 2024, after 1,676 in 2023 — compared with just 436 in 2022. The threshold of a thousand acts has now been crossed two years running, with 106 physical assaults recorded in 2024, the worst tally of violence in a decade.

In the United States, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) logged 9,354 antisemitic incidents in 2024, the highest figure since it began tracking nearly half a century ago. For the first time, a majority — 58% — referenced Israel or Zionism. That averages more than twenty-five incidents a day, more than one an hour.

Three countries, three methodologies, one curve. This is not a statistical accident. It is a trend.

Deborah Lipstadt’s warning

In an op-ed published by The Telegraph on August 30, 2026, the central question is not whether Jews are afraid — they have said so, and the numbers prove them right. The question is what that fear reveals about the rest of society.

Historian Deborah Lipstadt, the former US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, distilled the idea into a now-famous phrase: antisemitism is “the canary in the coal mine” for democracy. No society, she reminds us, has ever tolerated antisemitism and remained a healthy democracy. Hatred of Jews never stops with the Jews. It is an early symptom, a leading indicator of a political body in decline.

“Anybody who buys into the conspiracy myth at the heart of antisemitism — the notion that Jews control the media, the banks, the government or the judiciary — has already given up on democracy.”

Why conspiracy thinking is the real poison

Modern antisemitism is not merely a prejudice; it is a theory of the world. It offers a total explanation: if something goes wrong — an economic crash, a war, a pandemic — a hidden hand must be pulling the strings. That mental architecture is precisely the one that hollows out democracy from within. It teaches that institutions lie, that elections are rigged, that the press is bought, that science is corrupt.

A citizen who believes this no longer deliberates: he suspects. He no longer debates: he denounces. That is why authoritarian regimes and disinformation operators find antisemitism such a convenient tool. It does not just supply a scapegoat; it discredits the very idea that shared truth and legitimate institutions are possible at all.

What normalization costs everyone

The danger is not only violent acts. It is normalization. When slogans that would once have caused outrage become acceptable rallying cries; when centuries-old conspiracy theories resurface on social media repainted in the colors of current events; when a community must secure its schools, synagogues and shops as if in wartime — the entire democratic fabric stretches thin.

The mechanism is always the same. A society that accepts one group being targeted with impunity teaches itself, in the process, that targeting with impunity is possible. Jews are often the first to be attacked; they are rarely the last. That is the precise sense in which antisemitism is a warning: it tests the strength of the barriers democracy has built against hatred, falsehood and arbitrary power.

Defending Jews, or defending democracy? Both, inseparably

Beware a misreading. Saying that antisemitism threatens democracy is not about instrumentalizing Jewish suffering in the service of some “nobler” cause. It is the opposite: it recognizes that the safety of a minority and the health of a nation are bound by a single thread. You cannot protect one without the other.

This also demands rigor. Criticizing the policy of a government, including Israel’s, is legitimate democratic debate. Holding Jews collectively responsible, imputing to them a suspect loyalty, reviving the old conspiratorial fantasy — that is hatred. The line is not always easy to draw, but it exists, and refusing to draw it out of intellectual convenience already cedes ground.

The responsibility of democracies

What is to be done? First, name it. A democracy afraid to call antisemitism what it is condemns itself to watch it grow. Second, protect: concretely guarantee the security of Jewish sites, enforce the law against threats and violence, with no grey zones and no double standards. Finally, educate: against conspiracy thinking, the only lasting weapon is a population able to tell information from rumor, criticism from slander.

None of this is a privilege granted to one community. It is an investment in collective resilience. A society that knows how to protect its Jews knows, in truth, how to protect everyone — because it has kept in working order the institutions, laws and attachment to truth that protect us all.

The return of antisemitism is not a communal news item. It is an alarm addressed to every democracy. It is up to them to decide whether they hear it.

FAQ

Why say antisemitism threatens democracy and not only Jews?

Because modern antisemitism rests on a conspiracy theory that delegitimizes institutions, the press and science. This systematic distrust is the seedbed of authoritarian drift. Historically, no democracy has stayed healthy while tolerating hatred of Jews — hence Deborah Lipstadt’s “canary in the coal mine.”

Are the figures cited reliable?

They come from recognized bodies that have documented antisemitic incidents for decades: the CST in the UK, the SPCJ in France and the ADL in the US. Methodologies differ across countries, but the upward trend since October 7, 2023 is consistent.

Is criticizing Israel antisemitic?

No. Criticizing a government’s policy is legitimate democratic debate. The shift into antisemitism occurs when Jews are held collectively responsible for a state’s actions, imputed a suspect loyalty, or targeted through classic conspiracy myths.

What can democracies actually do?

Name antisemitism clearly, guarantee the security of Jewish sites, enforce the law without double standards, and invest in education against disinformation and conspiracy thinking.

Sources

• The Telegraph, “The return of anti-Semitism is a warning to every democracy,” August 30, 2026 — telegraph.co.uk
• Community Security Trust (CST), Antisemitic Incidents Report 2024 — cst.org.uk
• SPCJ / Crif, Antisemitism figures in France, 2024 — crif.org
• Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Audit of Antisemitic Incidents 2024 — adl.org

By Patrick Lancier