Study finds Jewish resilience eroding amid global antisemitism

According to the authors, antisemitic attitudes have moved “from the margins of society into its mainstream institutions,” leaving Jews increasingly vulnerable.

By Pesach Benson

An annual report on international antisemitism presented on Thursday warned that the phenomenon has reached levels unseen in decades and is eroding Jewish resilience.

“This is a troubling and alarming report with many challenges, definitely following October 7 and the impact on Jewish communities all over the world,” said Israeli President Isaac Herzog as the Jewish People Policy Institute’s report was presented to him in Jerusalem.

“What’s most important for us is Jewish resilience, the ability of all communities to function and flourish amidst these challenges, and of course, keep the centrality of Israel in their heart and in their deeds, and most importantly, to see our hostages back home and an end to the war.”

The Jerusalem-based JPPI’s findings point to worsening trends in nearly every measure of Jewish well-being, from cohesion to identity.

At the core of the report are six “gauges” that track the future of the Jewish people: demography, cohesion, geopolitics, Israel–U.S. relations, resilience, and identity.

While population growth in Israel remains robust, the report highlights declining unity, strained ties with younger Diaspora Jews, and growing international isolation.

Most worrying, the report said, is a sharp deterioration in Jewish resilience. “

Resilience is more than the ability to withstand adversity. It is the enduring capacity of the Jewish people – in Israel and throughout the Diaspora – to secure physical safety, ensure material prosperity, and uphold a shared sense of collective destiny. That resilience is being tested today as never before,” the report said.

The report described “a resurgence of antisemitism that is deeper, ideologically driven, and more socially acceptable than at any time since the Holocaust.”

According to the authors, antisemitic attitudes have moved “from the margins of society into its mainstream institutions,” leaving Jews increasingly vulnerable.

It noted that after Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, “the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust,” many Jews did not receive solidarity.

Instead, the event “triggered a wave of moral inversion,” with Jewish students told they could not grieve unless they condemned Israel.

The report warned that “today’s trope replaces the ‘Christ killer’ with the ‘Palestinian child killer.’ In both cases, the Jew is seen as the obstacle to redemption.”

The personal consequences are stark. “Jewish students [are] harassed or excluded on campuses; synagogues vandalized; individuals assaulted or even killed in ideologically motivated attacks,” JPPI documents.

In Europe and North America, many Jews are hiding outward symbols of identity or even considering emigration.

Alongside physical threats, Israel faces an unprecedented campaign of international delegitimization. The report pointed to the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli leaders and genocide charges filed against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

These measures, it argues, “erode Israel’s legitimacy as a sovereign state with the right to self-defense” and embolden its adversaries.

JPPI President Prof. Yedidia Stern cautioned that Israel stands “at a crossroads: massive security achievements have opened a regional window of opportunity, but without a political horizon and without addressing the internal crisis, the country risks sliding into prolonged strategic isolation.”

To confront the challenges, the institute recommends steps such as formulating a clear postwar strategy for Gaza, halting extremist rhetoric, strengthening ties with the Diaspora, reforming Israel’s governance, and launching a comprehensive global campaign against antisemitism.

Underlying these prescriptions was an urgent warning. “What connects the assault on Diaspora Jews and the legal assault on Israel is not only their ideological content, but their ultimate objective: to sever the link between Jewish peoplehood and legitimacy,” the report said.

For Jewish communities worldwide, the JPPI concluded, resilience must be defended not only against physical violence but also “in the moral and legal imagination of the world.”

Approximately 1,200 people were killed and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 48 remaining hostages, about 20 are believed to be alive.