EXTREMISMThreats to the U.S. Jewish Community: The Facts
According to the FBI’s annual data on hate crimes, defined as criminal offenses which are motivated by bias, crimes targeting the Jewish community consistently constitute more than half of all religion-based crimes.
Here are six facts about threats to the Jewish community in the United States.
1. Jews are consistently the most targeted religious community in the U.S.
According to the FBI’s annual data on hate crimes, defined as criminal offenses which are motivated by bias, crimes targeting the Jewish community consistently constitute over half of all religion-based crimes. The number of hate crimes against Jews has ranged between 600 and 1,200 each year since the FBI began collecting data in the 1990s. There were 683 hate crimes against Jews in 2020, 963 in 2019 and 847 in 2018.
The FBI’s data is based on voluntary reporting by local law enforcement. For a variety of reasons, dozens of large cities either underreport or do not report hate crime data at all.
2. Antisemitic incidents are being reported at record levels
ADL’s annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, which tracks incidents of antisemitic harassment, vandalism and assault in the U.S., also illustrates the danger facing American Jews. In 2020, ADL tabulated 2,024 reported antisemitic incidents throughout the country. While this was a four percent decrease from the 2,107 incidents recorded in 2019, it was still the third-highest year on record since ADL began tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979.
Of the 2,024 incidents recorded in 2020, 1,242 were cases of harassment, a 10% increase from 1,127 in 2019, and 751 incidents were cases of vandalism, an 18% decrease from 919 in 2019. The 31 incidents of antisemitic assault (a 49% decrease from 61 in 2019), involved 41 victims and no fatalities. Of the physical assaults against Jewish individuals, the vast majority were perpetrated without the use of a deadly weapon.
3. Jewish institutions are vulnerable targets
In 2020, there were 327 reported antisemitic incidents at Jewish institutions such as synagogues, Jewish community centers and Jewish schools, an increase of 40% from 234 in 2019. Two hundred and sixty-four (264) were incidents of harassment, 61 were incidents of vandalism and three were incidents of assault. Of the 264 incidents of harassment, 114 were “Zoombombings.”
Thirty-four of these incidents were perpetrated by extremists. Almost all of them were harassment, including white supremacist fliering incidents or anti-Israel extremist protests. One was an act of vandalism.
