The speed at which anti-Semitism is becoming an acceptable view in mainstream society is terrifying. So is the extent to which those who attempt to challenge anti-Semitism often underestimate its pernicious force.
Perhaps the most horrendous example of the past quarter is the title of a new book with a foreword by Tucker Carlson: Peace is the Only Final Solution for Jews. The conservative political commentator has often engaged in anti-Semitic tropes. For example, he has made frequent claims about Jewish influence and conspiracy theories involving Jews. Now it seems he can lend his name to a book title which jokes about the slaughter of six million Jews.
This is no marginal figure on the fringes of American society. On the contrary, he has many millions of followers on social media and JD Vance, America’s vice president, has described him as a “friend”. The book’s publisher, Simon & Schuster, is also a respectable mainstream organisation (More on the book’s author later in the report).
But there is competition for the title of horrific anti-Semitic instances of the quarter. An advert supporting Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for the Senate in Michigan, blames Israel for inflation in America. Although the campaign has not officially endorsed the advert it has not condemned it either.
These are just two of the most high-profile examples but there are many more. Things have got so serious that the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, an American think tank, has produced a report arguing that Israel has to prepare for the possibility of financial warfare against it by America. That could come in a new administration following that of Donald Trump.