Survey: 31% of Europeans blame economic crisis on Jews

Anti-Defamation League poll conducted in seven European countries shows almost half of Europeans believe Jews more loyal to Israel than countries they live in, 40% say Jews have too much power

Anti-Semitic attitudes still prevail in Europe: An Anti-Defamation League report published on Tuesday showed that nearly half of the Europeans surveyed believe Jews are not loyal to their country and more than one-third believe they have "too much power" in business and finance.

The study further showed that 31% of the respondents across Europe blame Jews in the financial industry for the current global economic crisis.

The poll was conducted between the dates December 1 and January 13 among 3,500 adults in seven European countries: Austria, France, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Overall, 40% of Europeans in those countries believe that Jews have too much power in the business world, with more than half of Hungarian, Spanish and Polish respondents agreeing with that statement.

The findings were similar to those of a 2007 ADL survey that found significant percentages of Europeans continue to believe in some of the most pernicious anti-Semitic stereotypes.

"This poll confirms that anti-Semitism remains alive and well in the minds of many Europeans," said ADL Director Abraham Foxman.

"It is distressing that there seems to be no movement away from the constancy of anti-Semitic held views, with accusations about Jews of disloyalty, control and responsibility for the death of Jesus," he added.

"In the wake of the global financial crisis, the strong belief of excessive Jewish influence on business and finance is especially worrisome," Mr. Foxman added.

"Clearly, age old anti-Semitic stereotypes die hard, particularly on a continent which is witnessing a surge in violent attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions following the war in Gaza."

'Jews talk about Holocaust too much'

A comparison with the 2007 survey indicates that levels of anti-Semitism have remained steady in six of the seven countries tested.

The United Kingdom was the only country in which there was a marked decline. Meanwhile, the percentage of those believing that Jews "have too much power in the business world" increased by 7% in Hungary, 6% in Poland and 5% in France.

Overall, nearly half of those surveyed in the seven countries believe that Jews are more loyal to Israel than to their own country. A majority of respondents in Germany, Poland and Spain believe that this statement is "probably true;" in Spain, it is 64%.

Large portions of the European public continue to believe that Jews "talk about the Holocaust too much." Overall, 44% of those surveyed believe this statement is "probably true". A majority of respondents in Austria, Hungary and Poland believe it to be true.