‘Shocking,’ historic spike in anti-Jewish threats across the US, ADL says

Threats to Jews in the United States tripled in the one-year period since the deadly October 7 terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas, preliminary data provided to CNN by the Anti-Defamation League shows.

More than 10,000 antisemitic incidents occurred between October 7, 2023, and September 2024 – up from 3,325 incidents the prior year. That marks the most incidents recorded in a 12-month period by the organization since it began tracking threats in 1979.

Since last October’s terrorist attack, “Jewish Americans haven’t had a single moment of respite,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. “Instead, we’ve faced a shocking number of antisemitic threats and experienced calls for more violence against Israelis and Jews everywhere.”

The new preliminary figures released ahead of an upcoming full report by the organization come as police agencies across the country have ramped up patrols around Jewish and Muslim institutions as a precaution in response to the escalating conflict in the Middle East, Monday’s October 7 anniversary and the Jewish High Holidays.

Since the war between Israel and Hamas began, reports of hate crimes and bias incidents targeting Jews, Muslims and Arabs have surged across the United States.

In April, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said it had received 8,061 reports of anti-Muslim bias in 2023, the highest number in the 28 years the group has tracked hate.

“If you see something, say something,” Greenblatt said on Sunday in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash. “We need people to report incidents. We need people to speak up. We should not be afraid in our own country.”

On Friday, the FBI and the US Department of Homeland Security issued a joint public advisory indicating the anniversary of October 7 and continued Middle East turmoil could serve as motivators for acts of violence by extremists.

ADL’s threat figures included more than 150 incidents of physical assault, more than 1,840 acts of vandalism and more than 8,000 antisemitic incidents involving verbal or written harassment.

The organization noted at least 1,200 antisemitic incidents occurred on US college campuses over the past year, representing a 500% spike from the previous year’s data in the same category.

US colleges and universities became a flash point earlier this year after thousands of protesters took to campuses from coast to coast to demonstrate in support of Palestinians facing bombardment from Israel’s military response to the October 7 terror attack.

The Gaza health ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israeli launched its war against Hamas. Israel, meanwhile, says it has killed more than 17,000 combatants in Gaza since the start of the war. CNN cannot independently confirm either set of figures, in part due to limited access afforded international journalists into the conflict zone.

While US college protests were overwhelmingly peaceful, several were marked by violence, including clashes with law enforcement officials attempting to clear makeshift camps, numerous reports of antisemitic intimidation of Jewish students and faculty, and instances of assaults by counter-demonstrators.

“ADL’s preliminary data also found that over 3,000 of all incidents took place during anti-Israel rallies, which featured regular explicit expressions of support for terrorist groups including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,” the organization said in a statement.

According to the FBI, which enforces federal hate crime laws and collects statistics on acts of violence, threats to Jews in the U.S. far exceed any other category of crimes based on religion.

“The Jewish community is uniquely – uniquely – targeted by pretty much every terrorist organization across the spectrum,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray in testimony before Congress shortly after the October 7 attack.

“And when you look at a group that makes up 2.4%, roughly, of the American population,” Wray said, “it should be jarring to everyone that that same population accounts for something like 60% of all religious-based hate crimes.”