CyberWell Warns of Surge in Antisemitic Content Online Following U.S.-Israel-Iran War

CyberWell, a nonprofit organisation that works with social media giants to track and combat online antisemitism, has issued a series of alerts after detecting a rise in antisemitic incitement and hate speech following the outbreak of the U.S.-Israel-Iran war on February 28.

The organisation, which collaborates with platforms such as Meta (Facebook, Instagram and Threads), TikTok and YouTube, said its monitoring teams observed a rapid spread of antisemitic narratives across several platforms, particularly on X.

Tracking content in English, Arabic and Farsi, CyberWell reported that several hostile narratives resurfaced shortly after the conflict began.

These included posts glorifying violence against Jews, celebrating attacks on Israeli civilians and amplifying conspiracy theories targeting Jewish communities.

According to CyberWell, some of the same hashtags, chants and digital content previously flagged during the Israel–IRGC conflict in June 2025 have re-emerged online.

Among them is the chant “Khaybar, Khaybar, ya Yahud,” which references the 7th-century Battle of Khaybar and is widely used as a call for violence against Jews. A variation of the chant targeting Zionists also began circulating again.

The nonprofit also identified renewed circulation of an AI-generated song titled “Boom Boom Tel Aviv,” including new versions celebrating missile strikes.

Other narratives included the conspiracy theory known as “ZOG” (Zionist Occupied Government), which falsely claims that Israel controls the U.S. government, as well as dehumanising language targeting Jews and Israelis.

Holocaust-justification rhetoric also appeared to spike during the escalation. CyberWell recorded a significant increase in posts using the phrase “Hitler was right,” a slogan widely condemned as explicit Holocaust glorification.

“In moments of geopolitical escalation, we consistently see antisemitism surge online,” said CyberWell founder and CEO Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor.

She noted that many of the same narratives flagged during the June 2025 conflict resurfaced again following the latest escalation.

“Our concern about the spread of these trends online is tied to the heightened security alerts Jewish communities around the world are experiencing,” she said. “Antisemitism is a global problem, and the amplification of Jew-hatred online plays a major role in that.”

CyberWell’s preliminary data shows a dramatic spike in posts containing the chant referencing Khaybar. In the six months before the war, the phrase appeared in roughly 53 posts per day.

Since Feb. 28, that figure has surged to about 950 posts daily, an increase of more than 1,700% with a peak of 1,461 posts on the first day of the conflict.

Holocaust-justification rhetoric followed a similar pattern. Posts containing the phrase “Hitler was right” averaged around 1,355 per day during the six months prior to the war.

On the day the conflict began, the number rose to 2,245 posts and climbed to a peak of 5,467 posts on March 1, a 304% increase from the previous baseline.

Arabic-language variations of the phrase also increased, jumping from an average of about two posts per day to 71 posts on the first day of the conflict.

CyberWell said that while some social media platforms appeared to activate emergency moderation measures during the escalation, responses varied widely across the digital ecosystem.

The organisation noted that antisemitic hashtags and narratives were most consistently visible on X during the crisis. In one example cited by the group, the phrase “Hitler was right” remained searchable and visible as a hashtag on the platform.

“According to X’s own policies, there is no reason why a phrase explicitly celebrating the Holocaust should remain easily searchable or widely circulated,” Cohen Montemayor said.

She added that the company’s stated principle of “freedom of speech, not freedom of reach” should prevent such content from being amplified, particularly during periods of heightened geopolitical tension.

“Responding to fast-moving spikes in online antisemitism during geopolitical crises requires more than reactive moderation,” she said.

“Platforms must strengthen automated detection systems, invest in regionally knowledgeable human moderators, review training data and maintain structured collaboration with expert civil society partners.”

CyberWell is an independent technology-driven nonprofit focused on combating the spread of antisemitism online.

Its AI-powered systems monitor social media platforms in English and Arabic for posts promoting antisemitism, Holocaust denial or violence against Jews, based on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism.

The organisation’s analysts review and report such content to platform moderators while cataloguing verified posts in an open database designed to track antisemitic content on social media.

Through partnerships, research and real-time alerts, CyberWell works with social media companies and digital service providers to help them enforce platform policies and respond more quickly to online hate speech.

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