75% of European Jews conceal Jewish identity

The survey from 2023 precedes the October 7th invasion of Israel by Hamas, and since then, antisemitism has increased by 400% in some countries. 

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

A European Union survey found that 75% of Jews in Europe have concealed their Jewish identity in public, 80% believe antisemitism is worse than it was 5 years ago, and 37% say they have directly experienced antisemitic harassment, often several times.

The survey from 2023 precedes the October 7th invasion of Israel by Hamas, and since then, antisemitism has increased by 400% in some countries.

The EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency gave the survey to 8,000 Jews in Europe in the first half of 2023.

EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency questioned over 8,000 Jews across the continent in the first half of 2023 before consulting 11 national Jewish bodies in the wake of Hamas’s invasion of Israel.

In the survey, 96% said they experienced antisemitism in their daily life even before October 7th, with 56% saying they experienced it offline from people they knew, 90% saying they had experienced it online, and 4% saying they were physically attacked for being Jewish.

Of those responding, 75% said they concealed their Jewish identity in public “at least occasionally,” and 34% said they avoided Jewish events because they don’t feel safe.

Concerning the government’s response to antisemitism, 60% said they were dissatisfied.

Around 53% said they were worried about their own safety, and 60% said they were concerned about their family’s safety in Europe.

Even before the significant rise in antisemitism after the October 7th attacks, 80% said antisemitism had worsened in five years and that they often encountered familiar stereotypes accusing Jews of “holding power and control over finance, media, politics or economy.”

This is despite efforts made by European governments and the EU in general to combat antisemitism with an EU strategy to fight anti-Jewish hate adopted in 2021.

Sirpa Rautio, director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights said, “The spillover effect of the conflict in the Middle East is eroding hard-fought-for progress” in fighting antisemitism and “Jews are more frightened than ever before.”