By , Christian Post.
Antisemitism in predominantly Catholic Ireland has reached “medieval” levels, according to a study conducted in December 2024.
Based on interviews with 1,014 Irish Christians, the study suggests that religious narratives play a significant role in fueling widespread anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sentiment. Notably, the report found that one-third of respondents believe Jews “still talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust.”
Nearly half (49%) of the Irish respondents said they believe Irish “Jews are more loyal to Israel than this country.” Approximately 36% agreed with the statement that Jews “have too much power in the business world.” In addition, 31% of the Irish respondents believe Jews “don’t care what happens to anyone but their own kind” and claimed that hatred toward Jews stems from “the way they behave.”
The study, conducted by Prof. Motti Inbari of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and Kirill Bumin of Boston University and Metropolitan College, revealed that anti-Jewish sentiments were more common among Catholics than Protestants in Ireland.
“It’s disturbing to see a Western democracy so steeped in prejudice and bias,” Inbari stated. “It’s like we’re living in medieval times.”
The poll results revealed that only 11.3% of Irish Christians support Israel in the Gaza War compared to 42.3% among Americans. In addition, 45.6% of those polled support Palestinians in Hamas-controlled Gaza compared to only 11.2% among Americans.
“What struck me is that we have the same percentages of people in both countries who say that they are generally familiar with the conflict, getting the same information from the same media, yet their understanding is fundamentally different,” Bumin said in an interview with The Times of Israel.
“Our study shows that much of this is due to differences in pre-existing theological beliefs, political and social attitudes, and levels of exposure to Jews that drastically vary between the U.S. and Ireland,” he added.