ADL says 2024 antisemitic incidents in US shattered records for fourth year in a row
9,354 cases of harassment, vandalism, and assault recorded throughout year, led by 84% rise on college campuses
Zev Stub is the Times of Israel's Diaspora Affairs correspondent.
Antisemitic incidents in the United States reached unprecedented levels in 2024, breaking annual records for the fourth consecutive year, according to a report released Tuesday by the Anti-Defamation League.
The 9,354 recorded cases of harassment, vandalism, and assault were the highest total since the ADL began tracking incidents in 1979, and five percent higher than in 2023, when the previous record was set, the antisemitism watchdog said.
The annual figure translates to more than 25 targeted anti-Jewish incidents per day, or more than one every hour, it noted. New York (1,437) and California (1,344) led in total cases, which were documented in all 50 states.
“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 ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. “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.”
Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terrorist onslaught in Israel triggered a sharp rise in antisemitic activity across the US and around the world. The ADL has been actively tracking the growth of antisemitic activity, with recent reports profiling college efforts to fight hatred, alleged AI bias and misinformation on Wikipedia, and global antisemitic beliefs.
For the first time, a majority (58%) of all reported antisemitic incidents in the US were related to Israel or Zionism, with 5,452 cases reported, the ADL said. Of these, nearly half occurred at anti-Israel rallies in the form of antisemitic speeches, chants, signs, and slogans.
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) were the most active groups in organizing such rallies, claiming involvement in over half of the events.
For the purpose of record-keeping, such rallies were counted as a single event regardless of the number of individual incidents, ADL said.
“These incidents… serve as a clear reminder that silence is not an option,” said Oren Segal, ADL’s senior vice president for counter-extremism and intelligence. “Good people must stand up, push back, and confront antisemitism wherever it appears.”
Among the report’s most alarming findings was a 21% rise in antisemitic assaults, with 196 recorded incidents targeting at least 250 individuals, none of whom were killed. Some 30% of those assaults targeted Orthodox Jews, the report said.
Assaults at Jewish institutions more than doubled and vandalism increased by 39%, the report said. Some 647 bomb threats were recorded during the year.
On college campuses, the number of incidents jumped 84% from the previous year to a record 1,694 cases. The ADL attributed much of the increase to anti-Israel rallies that crossed the line into antisemitic hate speech or symbolism.
Among other findings, 2,606 cases of vandalism were recorded, with swastikas present in 37% of cases. Some 6,552 incidents were categorized as harassment, including many of the cases at antisemitic rallies.
Some 962 incidents involved antisemitic propaganda from white supremacist groups, with three organizations — Patriot Front, Goyim Defense League, and White Lives Matter — responsible for 94% of the total.
The report covered both criminal and non-criminal acts of harassment, vandalism and assault against individuals and groups as reported to ADL by victims, law enforcement, the media and partner organizations and evaluated by ADL’s experts, the group said. It noted that the figures listed likely underrepresent the true scope of the problem, especially in K-12 schools, where bullying and harassment are often underreported.
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