Antisemitism in US at all-time high as American Jews report 'explosion of hate'

American Jews have experienced a historic “explosion of anti-Jewish hate since October 7,” according to new findings by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to mark the first anniversary of the Hamas attack.

CAM’s study, led by Dr. Ira Sheskin and Dr. Misha Galperin, found that of the 5.8 million Jews living in the United States, 3.5 million have directly experienced antisemitism since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

America is home to the largest Jewish community outside of Israel.

“The explosion of anti-Jewish hate since October 7 in this country has profoundly impacted individuals, families, and communities,” said Galperin, a member of CAM’s Board of Governors. He told The Jerusalem Post that the movement wanted the focus of the study to be not on the number of incidents but on the people impacted. These findings, he said, were “staggering.”

The ADL survey found that there have been more than 10,000 antisemitic incidents in the US since October 7, which is the highest number ever recorded in the history of the league. This constitutes a tripling incidents from the previous year.

This was corroborated by the FBI’s Hate Crime Report, which, though only for the year 2023, found that Jews were the most targeted group in the US.

CAM found that a fifth of Jewish children have personally experienced antisemitism in the last year, and a quarter of Jewish adults have experienced antisemitism in their local community.

Some 61% said they felt unsafe since October 7. Such feelings were particularly high among college students, with nearly 40% saying they felt unsafe on campus due to their Jewish identity. Many college students also felt excluded or othered because of being Jewish.

In fact, of the incidents recorded by the ADL, 1,200 happened on college campuses, marking a 500% increase.

When asked which group was behind their most serious incident of antisemitism, the majority of participants answered “Pro-Palestinians,” followed by the far Left, CAM found. Galperin told the Post that this was not surprising given the rise of Islamism in the US.

“Their goal is dominating the West,” he said. “The Jews are the canaries in the coal mine, but ultimately the rise in antisemitism is a reflection of an assault on Western values.”

While CAM’s participants related their experiences for research, only one in four Jews reported incidents to non-family members. This appeared to be directly correlated with a lack of trust in security and law enforcement, with less than half of the respondents feeling that law enforcement was effective.

Influence on behavior

Furthermore, the CAM study found that antisemitism experienced by American Jews has directly influenced their behavior, with many choosing to hide or suppress their Jewish identity for fear of it.

Over a quarter of the CAM respondents said they now avoid displaying their Jewishness in the workplace, an increase of nearly 10% from before the war.

According to the movement, a quarter also said that their synagogue had been the target of antisemitic crimes since October 7, such as graffiti, threats, or attacks. Half of the threats against synagogues were bomb threats, the ADL stated.

Local businesses also reported a significant increase in antisemitic vandalism.

Putting this into numbers, the ADL found that there were 8,015 incidents of verbal or written harassment in the last year, more than 1,840 of vandalism, and over 150 incidents of physical assault.

While physical antisemitism was prevalent among the CAM responses, online antisemitism also increased, with over half of participants saying they had witnessed anti-Jewish content online, and many having been directly targeted by it.

Facebook surpassed X/Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok as the worst platform for antisemitic content, CAM said.

In terms of antisemitic tropes, many respondents in their study reported hearing that Jews care too much about money, or that the Holocaust did not happen or was exaggerated. Many also said they had heard that US Jews care more about Israel than America, a common trope indicating an accusation of dual loyalties.

A month ahead of the US elections, a near majority of respondents said antisemitism was influential in their voting choices.

Sheskin said that the results were deeply concerning and showed the need for immediate action to combat the surge in antisemitic incidents and rhetoric in the US.

 “Today, we mourn the victims of the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel, marking one year since the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said. “From that day on, Jewish Americans haven’t had a single moment of respite.”

There needs to be much greater law enforcement, Galperin told the Post. “The war is not only fought in Gaza and Lebanon; it’s being fought right here in the United States.”