In the years before the Second World War, Jews in Europe were believed to have a particular habit for law-breaking. According to John Klier, a former professor of Modern Jewish History at UCL, part of this stereotype followed from a Jewish habit for revolutionary activity; another part came from the breaching of restrictions that applied to Jews only. The entire belief was underlined by historical prejudices which blamed Jews for the death of Jesus and claimed that the Talmud commanded violence against Christians. This supposed criminality was regularly used to justify antisemitic aggression, culminating in the Holocaust: “During the occupation of Poland and the Soviet Union,” Klier writes, “military action that formed part of the Final Solution was camouflaged as measures taken against ‘criminal elements’.”
Benjamin Netanyahu has drawn on this grim history this week. In response to the warrant for his arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) – along with one for former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Mohammed Deif, who Israel claims it killed in July – his office has alleged antisemitism and called the decision “equivalent to the modern Dreyfus trial”. …more
