'I'm not Jewish, I'm a Zionist': Viral trend surges on X as hundreds join in, 'Post' analysis finds

A social media trend in which non-Jewish users publicly declare themselves non-Jewish Zionists has spread rapidly across X, with a Jerusalem Post exclusive analysis identifying more than 600 matching posts from nearly 550 accounts over the course of just over a week.

The posts follow a recognizable formula: "I'm not Jewish. I'm [nationality, religion or identity]. And I am a Zionist."

The Post wrote a code to analyze X and ascertain where the trend started and who is amplifying it. This analysis uncovered 613 posts published between October 4 and October 11, with relatively little activity during the first several days before the trend accelerated sharply on October 9.

The dataset contained just three matching posts from October 4, followed by 13 on October 5, 10 on October 6, 22 on October 7, and 26 on October 8.

That number then jumped to 131 on October 9, roughly five times the number captured the previous day. Another 270 matching posts were published on October 10, followed by 138 captured on October 11 as of the time the data was collected.

In total, 539 of the 613 posts analyzed, or approximately 88%, were published from October 9 onward.

From scattered declarations to a viral formula

Declarations of support for Zionism by non-Jewish users predate the current trend, and the earliest posts located by the Post do not yet display the standardized format that has now become more widespread.

Among posts found on October 4 were broader declarations such as, "I'm not Jewish, but I am a Zionist."

By October 5, however, users had begun inserting their national identity into the declaration. One early example read, "I'm not Jewish. I am Irish, and I am a Zionist."

An October 6 post similarly stated, "I'm English, I'm not Jewish, but I am a Zionist."

By October 7, the three-part structure began appearing more frequently, including variations identifying the poster as American, Canadian or Iranian before declaring support for Zionism.

One example posted by Dutch writer Bart Schut on October 11 read, "I'm not Jewish. I'm a Dutch atheist. And I am a Zionist."

The Post's dataset included posts referencing a wide range of national identities, including Iranian, American, Canadian, German, Finnish, Irish, Italian, New Zealander, English, Polish, Australian, British, Dutch, Czech, Japanese, Portuguese and Nigerian, among others.

Some users went further, combining national and religious identities. References to Christians, Catholics, atheists, Muslims, Hindus and agnostics all appeared in the posts analyzed.

Hundreds of accounts join trend

The 613 posts collected by the Post came from 549 separate X accounts, indicating that the volume captured in the analysis was not primarily produced by a small number of accounts repeatedly posting the same phrase.

Most accounts appeared only once in the dataset.

The available data does not establish that the posts were centrally coordinated or part of an organized campaign. Rather, it demonstrates the rapid replication and adaptation of a common linguistic template across hundreds of accounts.

The timing suggests that the phenomenon changed significantly around October 9, just two days after the third anniversary of the October 7 attacks.

After the Post captured 74 matching posts in total between October 4 and October 8, another 539 appeared from October 9 onward.

The trend had also begun drawing attention from users on X itself by that point, with posts explicitly referring to the growing number of "I'm not Jewish, but I'm a Zionist" declarations as a trend.

For example, on October 9, user Oren Barsky wrote: "the 'I’m not Jewish, but I’m a Zionist' trend is one of the most moving things I’ve seen on this platform."

By October 11, Barsky said the trend is "basically [his] whole feed."

How the Post analyzed the trend

The Jerusalem Post collected public X search results using multiple variations of the phrases "I'm not Jewish" and "Zionist," covering posts published between October 4 and October 11.

Duplicate post URLs were removed, leaving 613 posts from 549 unique accounts for analysis.

The dataset is not an exhaustive record of every post participating in the trend. The figures instead provide a snapshot of the trend visible through public X search results and demonstrate its growth within the period analyzed.

Either way, amid the widespread hostility toward Israel and Zionism, the emergence of a trend centered on expressions of solidarity with Israel and the Jewish people's right to self-determination marks a notably positive shift in the social media discourse.