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Jewish supremacy is the belief thatJewish people are superior tonon-Jews. The concept of Jewish supremacy arises in some discourse about theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict. According to some cultural commentators, theethno-nationalist views, policies, andidentity politics of someIsraeli Jews rises to the level of a form ofsupremacism vis-à-vis thePalestinians, anArab people.[1][2][3] The term has been used by a variety ofcritics of Israeli policies, with some arguing that it reflects a broader pattern ofdiscrimination against non-Jews in Israel. It has also been used byAmericanfar-right proponents ofantisemitic conspiracy theories, urging fellow conspiracy theorists to disrupt city council meetings.[4][5]
Ilan Pappé, anexpatriate Israeli historian, writes that theFirst Aliyah to Israel "established a society based on Jewish supremacy" within "settlement-cooperatives" that were owned and operated by Jews.[6]Joseph Massad, a professor ofArab studies, holds that "Jewish supremacism" has always been a "dominating principle" inreligious and secularZionism.[7][8]
Since the 1990s,Orthodox Jewishrabbis from Israel, most notably those affiliated withChabad-Lubavitch andreligious Zionist organizations, including theTemple Institute, have set up amodern Noahide movement.[9][10] These Noahide organizations are aimed at non-Jews in order to convince them to follow theNoahide laws.[9][10] The rabbis that guide the modern Noahide movement, many of whom are affiliated with theThird Temple movement,[9][10] expound anideology that has been criticized for racism and supremacy, and consists of the belief that the Jews are God'schosen people.[9][10] These organizations mentor Noahides because they believe that theMessianic era will begin with the establishment of a Jewishtheocracy in Israel—including the rebuilding of the Third Temple on theTemple Mount inJerusalem and re-institution of theJewish priesthood—supported by communities of Noahides.[9][10]David Novak, professor ofJewish theology andethics at theUniversity of Toronto, has denounced the modern Noahide movement, saying, "If Jews are telling Gentiles what to do, it's a form of imperialism".[11][12][13]
In 2002, Massad said that Israel imposes a "Jewish supremacist system of discrimination" onPalestinian citizens of Israel, and that this has been normalized within the discourse on how to end the conflict, with various parties arguing that "it is pragmatic for Palestinians to accept to live in a Jewish supremacist state asthird class citizens".[1][14]
In 2021, the Israeli human rights organizationB'Tselem classified theState of Israel as "a regime of Jewish supremacy from theJordan River to theMediterranean Sea" through lawsamounting to apartheid. It also took note of the fact that, after it was established in 1989, it initially focused on the legal and social situation in theIsraeli-occupied territories, but that "what happens in the Occupied Territories can no longer be treated as separate from the reality in the entire area under Israel’s control" because there "is one regime governing the entire area and the people living in it, based on a single organizing principle".[15]
In the aftermath of the2022 Israeli legislative election, the winning right-wing coalition included an alliance known asReligious Zionist Party, which Jewish-American columnist David E. Rosenberg said is "driven by Jewish supremacy andanti-Arab racism".[16]
Proponents of theone-state solution cite the development of Jewish supremacy as one of the main reasons for the necessity of a single country that applies democratic principles across all sectors of society, regardless of ethnic or religious affiliations.[17]
Various discriminatory policies and practices have been cited as perpetrating Jewish supremacy in Israel,[18] including the1952 Citizenship Law[19] and the2018 Nation-State Law.[20] The banned Israeli political partyKach, the phenomenon ofIsraeli settler violence, and allIsraeli governments led byBenjamin Netanyahu have been accused of pursuing a Jewish supremacist agenda, particularly against Palestinians.[19][21]
The Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism reported last month that this pattern stems from a few extremist groups that encouraged followers to hijack any public meetings they can find to spread antisemitic, white supremacist and anti-LGBTQ+ narratives. Those extremist groups include the antisemitic Goyim Defense League, the white supremacist White Lives Matter network and the far-right Proud Boys.
In a May podcast, Goyim Defense League leader Jon Minadeo told followers to "Find a city council meeting, bring the [league's] fliers in, talk about Jewish supremacy," ADL reported. Since then, extremists have used public meetings across the country as a forum for spreading hate speech.
Whereas the First Aliya established a society based on Jewish supremacy, the Second Aliya's method of colonization was separation from Palestinians.
