Biden and Harris decry rise of antisemitism in the US since Oct. 7 attack

Marking 6 years since Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, US president slams ‘appalling’ trend, pledges funding for Jewish security, prosecution of hate crimes

US President Joe Biden arrives at Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Delaware, October 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
US President Joe Biden arrives at Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Delaware, October 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

WASHINGTON — US President Joe Biden on Sunday lamented the “appalling surge” of antisemitism since the war in Gaza started, as he marked six years since a deadly attack on a synagogue in Pennsylvania.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running to succeed Biden, also decried the rise in antisemitism, noting the recent anniversary of the Hamas attack that sparked the war. She vowed to “continue our work to ensure that every person in our nation can live free from gun violence.”

In 2018, a right-wing extremist killed 11 Jewish worshipers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue, in the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history.

This year’s commemoration came just days after the Hebrew calendar anniversary of October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people, sparking the war in Gaza that has since spread to other fronts.

“One year later, the trauma and losses from that day and its aftermath are not only raw, but exacerbated by the appalling surge of antisemitism against Jews in America and around the world,” said Biden in a statement.

Biden, whose administration has largely backed Israel since the start of the conflict, said that even before the Hamas onslaught, he had launched America’s first National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism.

“We are aggressively implementing it,” he said, adding that his administration had secured $1.2 billion to provide physical security of synagogues, Jewish schools and other nonprofit organizations.

A makeshift memorial stands outside the Tree of Life Synagogue, in the aftermath of a deadly shooting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 29, 2018. (Matt Rourke/AP/File)

The Department of Justice was also probing and prosecuting antisemitic hate crimes, he said.

According to a poll released on October 7 by the Combat Antisemitism Movement, an estimated 3.5 million American Jews — 61 percent of the community, including one-fifth of Jewish children — had experienced antisemitism since the Hamas onslaught the year before.

The poll came a day after the Anti-Defamation League reported that over the past year, the US had seen some 10,000 antisemitic incidents — the highest number since the ADL started keeping track in 1979.

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