Survey: A third of US Jews have experienced antisemitism, 3/4 feel less safe
Perceptions about the threat of anti-Jewish hate have gotten worse in almost every category compared to 2023, the American Jewish Committee finds
Zev Stub is the Times of Israel's Diaspora Affairs correspondent.
One-third of American Jews said they were a target of an antisemitic incident in 2024, and 77 percent said they feel less safe as Jews in the United States, according to a survey released Wednesday by the American Jewish Committee (AJC).
The survey of 1,732 Jews, taken between October 8 and November 29, showed that perceptions of the threat of antisemitism had gotten worse in almost every category compared to 2023, the report’s authors noted. This was the sixth such annual survey conducted by the AJC.
Reports of antisemitic incidents have soared in the US and countries around the world since Hamas launched its war on Israel on October 7, 2023. The findings of the AJC report are in line with those of studies published by the Anti-Defamation League and other Jewish organizations.
“Antisemitism has reached a tipping point in America, threatening the freedoms of American Jews and casting an ominous shadow across our society,” said AJC CEO Ted Deutch. “This is an all-hands-on-deck moment for leaders across the U.S. We must act now to protect Jews – and America – from rising antisemitism. That one-third of American Jews have been the target of antisemitism in the past year should raise red flags for every American and our leaders.”
Some 33% of respondents said they had been the victim of an antisemitic attack, personal remark, vandalism, online post, or other form of antisemitism during 2024.
The survey found that 93% of respondents view antisemitism as a problem in the US, with 54% calling it a “very serious” problem. Some 91% of respondents agreed that antisemitism has increased over the past five years, a figure that has risen consistently for four years in a row.
Some 56% of Jews said they changed their behavior in the past year due to antisemitism. This includes avoiding wearing certain clothing or symbols, going to certain places, and posting content online that would identify them as Jewish or reveal their views on Jewish issues.
Roughly seven in ten Jewish adults reported having experienced antisemitism online or on social media, including those who say they have been personally targeted and those who say they have seen or heard antisemitic incidents without being a target themselves.
One in three college students said they experienced antisemitism personally while in college, and 48% said they changed their behavior to avoid antisemitism during the past year, the report said.
Some 67% of US Jews have seen antisemitic content online, and 20% of those said it made them feel physically threatened. Broken down by platform, 47% said they saw antisemitic content on Facebook, 37% on X (a decline from the previous year), 32% on Instagram, 27% on YouTube, and 18% on TikTok.
On the community level, 30% said their Jewish institution had been the target of antisemitism in the past five years. About 25% said local Jewish businesses where they live had been targeted in the past year.
The survey revealed a troubling trend regarding the reporting of incidents. A significant 78% of respondents indicated that they did not report antisemitic incidents they experienced, with 54% of these saying they believed nothing would be done in response to their complaints.
The survey also asked 2,056 non-Jews about their attitudes about antisemitism. It found that 74% say antisemitism is a problem in the US today, and 59% noticed that it had increased over the last five years. Almost 40% said they had personally seen or heard antisemitism occur in the past year.
Encouragingly, 95% of US Jews and 90% of the general public agreed with the statement “Antisemitism affects society as a whole; everyone is responsible for combating it.” Nearly 80% of the general public said it is an unacceptable form of protest against Israel to boycott American Jews, and more than 90% said it was unacceptable to protest Israeli policies in front of a Jewish school, business, or synagogue.
Some 90% of Jewish and non-Jewish Americans believe it is important for Jewish communities and other religious and ethnic communities to increase cooperation with each other, the report said.
