On my campus, the Muslim Student Union often justifies its anti-Israeli venom by claiming that it is not anti-Semitic. As proof, they may claim that some of their best friends are Jewish, or they may
feature Jewish speakers.
Though I suspect that much of the hatred of Israel is driven by anti-Semitism, the two do not coincide. As a thought experiment, suppose that tomorrow all Israelis converted to Buddhism. But suppose that the Israel-haters continued to call for the destruction of the state of Israel, and continued to justify suicide bombings. The haters may then not be anti-Semitic, but their calls for
violence and destruction continue to be immoral and reprehensible. Absence of anti-Semitism, or claims of sympathy to Jews, is no excuse for demonizing Israel and and its citizens.