EXTREMISMContinued Post-Oct. 7 Spike in Antisemitism: 84% Increase in Incidents on Campus; 21% Increase in Physical Assaults

The massive spike in antisemitic incidents following the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel continued in 2024, with totals again exceeding any other annual tally in the past 46 years. This is the fourth year in a row that antisemitic incidents increased and broke the previous all-time high. It is also the first time that incidents containing elements related to Israel or Zionism made up a majority of all incidents (58 percent of the total).

There were 9,354 incidents of antisemitic assault, harassment and vandalism across the country in 2024, according to ADL’s (the Anti-Defamation League) annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, released today. This total represents a 5 percent increase from 2023 (already a record-setting year), a 344 percent increase over the past five years, an 893 percent increase over the past 10 years and is the highest level recorded since ADL started tracking this data in 1979. The 12-month total for 2024 averaged more than 25 targeted anti-Jewish incidents in the U.S. per day, more than one an hour.

“This horrifying level of antisemitism should never be accepted and yet, as our data shows, it has become a persistent and grim reality for American Jewish communities,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “Jewish Americans continue to be harassed, assaulted and targeted for who they are on a daily basis and everywhere they go. But let’s be clear: we will remain proud of our Jewish culture, religion and identities, and we will not be intimidated by bigots.”

Antisemitic Incidents Related to Israel or Zionism
In 2024, for the first time, a majority of all incidents (58 percent, or 5,452 incidents) were related to Israel. Of all Israel-related incidents, 2,596 took place at anti-Israel rallies in the form of antisemitic speeches, chants, signs, and slogans. (About half of the more than 5,000 anti-Israel rallies tracked by ADL in 2024 contained antisemitic expressions; those that did not contain antisemitic elements were not included in the Audit. When antisemitic expressions of this sort appeared at a rally, ADL tabulated them as a single incident regardless of how many times they were repeated or how many different forms they took.)

Activity and rhetoric documented at these rallies included: justification or glorification of antisemitic violence, promotion of classic antisemitic tropes including blood libel, conspiracy theories and signage equating Judaism or Zionism with Nazism, celebration of the anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack in Israel, and unapologetic support for terrorism, designated terrorist organizations and their leaders.