A report released Thursday by B'nai B'rith International and Fighting Online Antisemitism found that conspiracy theories alleging Jewish or Israeli control over governments and foreign policy more than tripled across major social media platforms following the outbreak of the Iran war.
Researchers compared activity during the 38 days before fighting began, from January 21 to February 27, with the first 38 days after, from February 28 to April 6. They analyzed thousands of posts using a defined set of keywords, narratives and coded expressions related to conspiracies of Jewish or Israeli influence.
The organizations identified 988 posts containing such narratives before the war and 3,138 afterward - a 217.6% increase.
"Moments of war or geopolitical uncertainty generate spikes in antisemitism - whether that's the war in Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic - and all the more predictably, a war involving Israel," Said Alina Bricman, director of European Union affairs at B'nai B'rith.
Within days of the conflict's start, different conspiracy communities began promoting the same narrative. "What was striking was how quickly the online ecosystem settled on a common explanation," Bricman said. "Within a matter of days, very different conspiracy communities were increasingly telling the same story: that of 'ZOG' or 'Zionist Occupied Government,' a conspiracy whereby Jews secretly manipulate governments and drag countries into war."
Before the conflict, antisemitic conspiracy theories on social media were relatively fragmented, relying on references to secret elites and shadow governments. After the war began, narratives shifted toward explicit claims of Jewish or Israeli control over Western governments and foreign policy.
Posts mentioning ZOG rose from 485 before the war to 1,977 afterward, accounting for 49.1% of all content analyzed during the prewar period compared with 63% after the conflict began. Engagement climbed sharply as well, with likes increasing from about 290,000 to 690,000 and shares jumping from roughly 23,000 to 230,000.
Bricman noted that public figures "such as Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson have popularized narratives about Israeli control of U.S. policy or hidden influence and made them mainstream."
She also highlighted the role of hostile state actors. "We also know from a growing body of research that hostile state actors - including Iran, Russia and China - have repeatedly instrumentalized antisemitic narratives as part of broader information operations aimed at undermining trust, deepening societal divisions and destabilizing democratic societies," Bricman said.
The organizations shared findings with Meta, TikTok and X. TikTok agreed to meet with the team to discuss the report, though Bricman said it remains unclear whether this will result in meaningful enforcement improvements. Meta outlined its existing policies, but approximately 70% of reported content remained online. X did not provide a substantive response.