Over the last few months, I have been bombarded on every side with conspiracy theories related primarily to the Corona pandemic and the chaos surrounding the defeat of Donald Trump in the US presidential election. The QAnon group is spreading the conspiracy that a secret elite are kidnapping children in a bid to seize control of the world. And they insist that Trump is the bulwark against this diabolical scheme.

In Israel, a large number of Likud voters believe that there’s a left-wing conspiracy against their party and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

I am simply inundated lately with messages and warnings of this type.

Some of my friends have been trying for weeks to convince me that the COVID-19 pandemic is a farce. When we were invited for a Sabbath meal at their home in the south they were appalled that we showed up wearing face masks. “Take those off immediately and give us a hug,” Amnon and Anat said to us. Around the table they presented us with the usual suspects: Bill Gates, the trade war between the...