By Stacey Dresner

Three finalists are in the running for 2022’s Antisemite of the Year, an “award” given by StopAntisemitism.org for the second year in a row.

A slate of ten individuals whose antisemitic acts and statements placed them in StopAntisemitism.org’s regular “Antisemtite of the Week” postings over the past year was whittled down to three after thousands cast their ballots over the past few weeks.

Rapper Kanye West, who in August tweeted that he was going to go “Death Con 3” on Jews, is so far in the lead.

Also among the top three finalists are real estate developer Mohamed Hadid and white supremacist Jon Minadeo II. 

Hadid, born to a Palestinian family in Nazareth, is the father of models Gigi Hadid and Bella Hadid, who both have also made statements vilifying Israel. 

According to StopAntisemitism.org, Mohamed Hadid “spreads his false antisemitic conspiracy theories to millions of followers on his social media platforms” and “recently navigated from Israel-bashing to promoting Nazi-like conspiracy theories of Jewish power when he openly stated: “Israel and the Jews control the media.”

Minedeo is leader of the white supremacist group ‘Goyim Defense League’ (GDL). He is responsible for the banner drop on the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles in August, which read “Kanye is right about the Jews.”

Minadeo also organizes and directs his followers to drop thousands of antisemitic flyers across America blaming everything on Jews, from 9/11 to COVID to the war in Ukraine.

But with his over-the-top antisemitic antics, Kanye West may be a shoe in to be named this year’s top antisemite.

During an Oct. 6 interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News, West made numerous statements about Jewish people (in footage that was intentionally not aired by Carlson and  Fox. The footage was eventually obtained and aired by several independent outlets).

On Friday, October 7, West posted that rapper Diddy is controlled by Jews, then tweeted that he would go “death con 3” on “JEWISH PEOPLE.” After his antisemitic on-air and social media statements, West lost the vast majority of his billion-dollar fortune after Adidas, Balenciaga, and many more parted ways with him.