ISTANBUL

US Vice President-elect JD Vance said criticism of Israel should not be equated with antisemitism, emphasizing a clear distinction between opposing specific policies and harboring hatred toward Jewish people.

“I would say there’s a difference between not liking Israel (or disagreeing with a given Israeli policy) and anti-semitism," Vance said in a reply to his post on the US social media company X late Monday.

Responding to excerpts from an Atlantic report on the increase in antisemitism among younger generations, Vance criticized the coverage, saying: "Mainstream journalism is just profoundly uninteresting and lame, consumed by its own pieties."

"To write an article about the ‘generational divide’ in anti-semitism without discussing the demographics of the various generations is mind boggling," he added.

"The most significant single thing you could do to eliminate anti-semitism and any other kind of ethnic hatred is to support our efforts to lower immigration and promote assimilation," he said. "But these guys won't do that, because they all lack curiosity and introspection."

He also shared an analysis cited by Charles Fain Lehman of the Manhattan Institute, in which the author said "foreign-origin is a much better predictor of antisemitism than ideology or age."

Vance last week had said he disagreed with fellow Republicans who have warned of a rise in antisemitism within the party. Speaking to NBC News, he said: "Judging anybody based on their skin color or immutable characteristics, I think, is fundamentally anti-American and anti-Christian."

“I do think it’s important to call this stuff out when I see it,” Vance said, adding that in his conversations with young conservatives, "I don’t see some simmering antisemitism that’s exploding."

The remarks come after Sunday’s attack on a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach that killed 15 people.