U.S. Report Says Iran, Russia and China Use Antisemitism To Destabilize Democracies

A new State Department report sent to Congress accuses Iran, Russia and China of using antisemitic propaganda, threats and attacks as part of broader foreign interference operations, Axios reported Monday.

The report, transmitted to Congress on May 26, says America’s top adversaries have incorporated antisemitic narratives into activity in both the physical and cyber worlds. The finding could increase pressure on the Trump administration to treat attacks on Jewish communities not only as isolated acts of extremism, but as part of a wider campaign to weaken democratic societies from within.

“Iran, Russia, China and affiliated non-state actors employed antisemitic symbols, graffiti, threats and online propaganda across physical and cyber domains,” the report says, according to Axios.

The document says the use of antisemitism is meant to create public tension and damage social trust. “The deliberate targeting of Jewish institutions, memorial sites and religious symbols is intended to provoke fear and outrage, polarize societies and erode public trust,” the report says.

Axios reported that the State Department did not publicly release the document, although some congressional officials had expected it to do so. A State Department spokesperson told Axios, “We don’t comment on congressional reports or correspondence.”

The report says Iran’s IRGC used social media bots to amplify antisemitic narratives. It also cites physical threats, including an Iranian-linked plot to assassinate Rabbi Shneor Segal in Azerbaijan.

According to reporting by the Washington Post and Israeli outlets, Iran’s Quds Force allegedly offered a Georgian criminal figure $200,000 to kill Segal and attack a Jewish education center. Azerbaijani security services uncovered the plot in early 2025 and arrested suspects involved in surveillance of the rabbi.

On China, the report cites a post by Xue Jian, China’s consul general in Osaka, Japan, comparing Israel to Nazi Germany. The post was later deleted, but it drew sharp condemnation from Israeli Ambassador to Japan Gilad Cohen.

“This shameful incitement to use Nazi symbols to condemn Israel is not only highly disgraceful, but also anti-Semitic, dangerous and a grave insult to the memory of the Holocaust,” Cohen wrote at the time.

The Russian portion of the Axios report was less detailed in the excerpt published Monday, but the State Department has previously accused the Kremlin of using antisemitic narratives in propaganda campaigns, including around the war in Ukraine. A prior report by the State Department’s Global Engagement Center said Russian leaders and propagandists have spread anti-Jewish conspiracy theories to shift blame and distort world events.

Russia has also faced scrutiny in Europe over suspected influence operations involving Jewish targets. In May 2024, red hand symbols were spray-painted on the Paris Holocaust memorial, and French authorities investigated possible Russian involvement in the vandalism as part of a broader destabilization campaign.

The new report comes as lawmakers in both parties have expanded hearings, investigations and legislation aimed at countering foreign influence. It also lands after the Trump administration shut down the Global Engagement Center, a State Department office that had focused on disinformation from Russia, China and Iran.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the office had restricted free speech. Critics argued that it played a necessary role in tracking foreign disinformation and exposing influence campaigns aimed at Americans and U.S. allies.

The report’s central warning is that antisemitism is being used not only as hate speech, but as a tool of statecraft. By targeting Jewish communities, memorials and religious symbols, hostile governments and their proxies can inflame local divisions while hiding behind existing social tensions.

That argument is likely to sharpen the debate in Congress over how the U.S. should respond when antisemitic incidents are tied to foreign propaganda, cyber activity or state-backed intimidation.