Bret Stephens Is Right: Antisemitism Is Not a Matter of Insufficient Information

Hatred of Jewish people is a civilizational issue requiring a civilizational response from all of us–not just Jews.

Responding to: We Jews Have the Honor of Being Hated by Bret Stephens Published in Commentary, March 2026 (adapted from “The State of World Jewry” address, Feb 2026)

The core disagreement: The Jewish community is right to invest in Jewish formation, but the rest of us must work to contain violent antisemitism that threatens us all.

WHAT THEY GOT RIGHT

Jewish American columnist Bret Stephens criticized the prevailing strategies for responding to antisemitism. The world’s oldest hatred, he said, is not simply prejudice born of ignorance but a nearly incurable neurosis. Rather than seeking acceptance by ingratiating themselves to others, Jews should focus on Jewish flourishing. Jewish life, he argued, thrives when Jewish identity becomes the central fact of life—the source of meaning and purpose, a spiritual compass, moral anchor, and emotional refuge.

WHERE THEY GO WRONG

Stephens’s proposed solution, however, is only partly right. He argued that fighting antisemitism “is a well-meaning but mostly wasted effort,” and that the millions of dollars devoted to it would be better spent strengthening Jewish life—especially through institutions like Jewish day schools that transmit Jewish values to children. Bari Weiss made a similar point last year at the Tikvah Fund’s Jewish Leadership Conference, arguing that “all of the resources in [the Jewish] community should go” to Jewish day schools. Any community, after all, including the Jewish community, ceases to exist when it stops transmitting its culture and values to the next generation.

Photo by: Davidson Luna (Unsplash)

But this Jewish equivalent of the Benedict Option, Rod Dreher’s proposal for a more inwardly focused Christian posture toward the world, does not take into account the existential threat that the resurgence of violent antisemitism across the West presents to civilization itself, not to mention Jews and Jewish institutions. It is undoubtedly the responsibility of Jewish parents and community leaders to see to it that Jewish young people learn Jewish history, religion, customs, and culture. That duty cannot be outsourced. But the resurgence of political and cultural forces that would be pleased to see Jewish people, Jewish institutions, and the Jewish state eradicated imperil even the possibility of that important work.

Jew-hatred is the product of a psychological reflex—and that kind of reflex can never be educated out of existence even if, for a time, it may be sublimated into quiescence.

THE REAL STORY

Stephens’s position is incomplete because he overlooks two significant and related aspects of the problem. First, antisemitism is not merely a Jewish problem;. it is a civilizational one, threatening not only Jewish people and institutions but the moral and political foundations of the societies in which it emerges. If the problem is civilizational, the response must be as well. Jewish philanthropists should generously support Jewish formation. But non-Jewish philanthropists should be equally committed to supporting programs confronting antisemitism. This hatred will never disappear entirely; it can only be contained. Like a cancer in the body, the ideal would be to eliminate it. Failing that goal, we must pursue strategies of fearless confrontation to limit and mitigate its corrosive effects.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Antisemitism has always been a canary in the cultural coal mine. Civilizations that tolerate it eventually descend into violence and disorder. The enemies of civilization often begin their assault where they perceive the greatest vulnerability. When antisemitism is tolerated, therefore, it is not only Jews who are endangered. Instead, it signals a broader moral decay that threatens society as a whole. To tolerate antisemitism is to allow a corrosive poison to spread—one that ultimately weakens and undermines the foundations of the West itself.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Restoring the West is a mission requiring the courage to oppose the ideologies that threaten our civilization. Yes, Jewish philanthropists should continue to support the formation and vitality of Jewish life within their communities. But non-Jewish philanthropists must also step forward and invest in the work of confronting antisemitism and preserving the civilizational conditions that make such formation possible.