A dramatic surge in anti-Semitism has gripped U.S. college campuses, with Hillel International, an organization dedicated to supporting Jewish students, reporting that “anti-Semitic incidents on campus reached their highest-ever level during the 2024-2025 school year.” The organization documented 2,334 incidents, a staggering 10-fold increase compared to the 2022-2023 academic year.
This escalation also coincides with heightened tensions following the outbreak of war between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas on October 7, 2023. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) further underscored the crisis, noting over 10,000 anti-Semitic incidents across the U.S. within a year of the attack.
On Thursday, during a private event at Family Research Council that focused on the topic of anti-Semitic awareness, FRC President Tony Perkins addressed the alarming rise in anti-Semitism, noting its prevalence not only from expected sources like the political Left but also from unexpected quarters, including some on the Right. “[F]rom an evangelical perspective,” Perkins stated, “Scripture warns against this. And that’s where I think part of our problem is.” He expressed cautious optimism about younger generations, particularly Gen Z, observing “a return to the … Bible.” However, he voiced concern that not all teachings align with biblical accuracy, stating, “Not everyone is teaching the Bible the way they should.”
“[O]ur mission,” he continued, “is to get more evangelicals in the word of God, to see the thread of God’s promise to Israel, the Jewish people, from start to finish.” To achieve this, he urged Christians to embrace two core truths: “First, Israel has a God given right to exist in peace in the land that God promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Second, support for Israel does not require uncritical agreement with every policy of its government.” He clarified that constructive criticism of Israel’s policies is acceptable, provided it is “done so as a friend and not an adversary.”
To combat anti-Semitism, particularly within U.S. policy and society, Perkins proposed several actionable steps. First, he advocated for “an evangelical based anti-Semitic watch list” to monitor and call out those fostering anti-Semitic environments, akin to the ADL’s efforts but rooted in an evangelical perspective. Second, he suggested “a very practical step” of advancing legislation at state and federal levels to replace the term “West Bank” with “Judea and Samaria,” reflecting Israel’s historical and biblical claim to the land.
Third, Perkins called for “a statement on Christian solidarity with the Jewish people” to rally nationwide support and counter anti-Semitic voices. Finally, he encouraged churches to hold “a solidarity Sunday” to visibly stand with the Jewish community. Following Perkins, Yair Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son, joined the event via Zoom to offer his insight to the conversation.
Americans are consuming “this anti-Semitic, Nazi materials,” he stated, and “it changes their minds” to not care about Israel or the Jewish people. To make matters worse, he continued, many moderates and Democrats have been taken over by “the radical communist … woke, progressive camp.” Their influence has “turned the party into [the] Marxist, radical, insane party that it is today, and this is what destroyed it.” And as he put it, Republicans must be careful not to allow themselves to be tainted by the same “cancer.” He agreed with Perkins’s suggestion to create “an umbrella organization” that gathers churches together to speak “in one voice.”
On Thursday’s “Washington Watch,” Perkins delved deeper into the issue with Luke Moon, deputy director of the Philos Project.
Moon and Perkins also addressed a troubling trend: a growing number of churchgoers who believe the U.S. has no obligation to support Israel. Perkins questioned, “Are those churches teaching what the Bible has to say about the Jewish people and about Israel?” Moon responded, “I doubt it,” highlighting a decline in churches teaching key biblical texts, such as the Book of Revelation, which he described as “a core part of” understanding Israel’s role in God’s plan.
Both leaders agreed that the path forward requires promoting “a cohesive theology, of which Israel and the Jewish people are still part of God’s covenantal plan for the world.” Moon, who founded Generation Zion, emphasized the organization’s mission to educate Christians on why they “should and must stand with Israel and [the] Jewish people.” Ultimately, he concluded, “It is part of God’s redemptive plan for the world.”
