1 in 7 Italians back antisemitic violence

New poll shows 15% of Italians say physical assaults on Jews are justifiable, amid sharp rise in the number of antisemitic incidents in Italy.

By World Israel News Staff

Roughly one in every seven Italians believes that physical violence against Jews is justified, according to a new poll, amid a sharp rise in antisemitism in Italy.

On Tuesday, a poll conducted by SWG was published revealing that 15% of Italians consider physical assaults on Jews to be “entirely or fairly justifiable.”

The SWG poll surveyed 800 Italian adults from September 24th to the 26th across the country.

In addition, nearly one in five Italians (18%) said they believe that antisemitic vandalism, including anti-Jewish graffiti on walls and other public spaces is legitimate.

A fifth of respondents backed attacks on university professors who publicly take pro-Israel positions.

A similar number of respondents said they support boycotts of Israeli customers, endorsing recent high-profile incidents in Italy.

The poll comes following a series of widely publicized cases of antisemitism and confrontations between anti-Israel activists and academics who expressed pro-Israel positions.

In September, two professors were targeted by anti-Israel activists in Italy.

At the University of Pisa, a class by Rino Cassella, a professor of Comparative Constitutional Law, was shut down by activists from the Students for Palestine group who accused Cassella of supporting Israel based on his refusal to back the Palestinian cause.

“About 10 people entered and violently interrupted the lesson: they threw my book away, pushed me, and climbed on the desk, shouting, ‘Dirty imperialist’ at me because I have a notebook with an American flag on it that I use for notes,” Cassella said.

Earlier that day in a separate incident, visiting Israeli engineering professor Pini Zorea was interrupted at the Polytechnic University of Turin by pro-Palestinian students.

At the same time, watchdog groups in Italy have reported sharp increases in antisemitism since the October 7th, 2023 invasion of Israel.

The Centro di Documentazione Ebraica Contemporanea (CDEC) Antisemitism Observatory reported earlier this year that the number of antisemitic incidents in Italy hit the highest level on record in 2024, up from 454 reported incidents in 2023 to 877 last year.