Antisemitic incidents in US rose 360% since October 7th, ADL reports

‘The American Jewish community is facing a threat level that’s now unprecedented in modern history.’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

The Anti-Defamation League reports that antisemitic incidents in the US have risen 360% since October 7th and are at the highest level since the ADL started keeping records in the 1970s.

“The American Jewish community is facing a threat level that’s now unprecedented in modern history,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO.

He added, “It’s shocking that we’ve recorded more antisemitic acts in three months than we usually would in an entire year.”

The ADL found that there were 3,283 reported antisemitic incidents between Oct. 7 and Jan 7th, which included 60 physical assaults, 533 acts of vandalism, 1,353 cases of verbal or written harassment, and 1,317 rallies during which antisemitic rhetoric and expressions of support for terrorism against Israel or Jews are apparent.

Greenblatt said, “In this difficult moment, antisemitism is spreading and mutating in alarming ways.”

“This onslaught of hate includes a dramatic increase in fake bomb threats that disrupt services at synagogues and put communities on edge across the country.”

Of these total incidents, 505 were perpetrated on college campuses, 246 occurred in K-12 schools and 628 happened at synagogues or Jewish community centers.

Two-thirds of the antisemitic incidents were directly related to the Israel-Hamas war.

Antisemitism had been steadily rising before October 7th, with the total number of incidents in 2022 slightly more–3,697 than the 3,283 reported in 2023.

Last week, Varsity female players from a private Jewish high school had to leave a basketball game after facing repeated antisemitic harassment from members of the home Yonkers team, as reported by The New York Post.

Team members from The Leffell School, a private Jewish high school in Hartsdale had to be escorted off the court by security guards after verbal harassment gave way to physical violence.

From the beginning of the game, members of the Roosevelt High School team were hurling antisemitic verbal abuse at the varsity Leffell players, with one shouting, “I support Hamas, you f–king Jew.”

Following the game on Thursday, Leffell basketball senior team member Robin Bosworth wrote in an editorial in the school paper, The Lion’s Roar that there were “substantially more jabs and comments thrown at the players on our team than what I have experienced in the past.”