Hate crimes against Jews in the United States reached a new record high in 2023, according to a report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Last year, 1,832 antisemitic hate crimes were reported, the highest number since 1991, when FBI collection of such data began.
The figure also represents a 63 percent increase over the number of antisemitic hate crimes reported one year earlier, in 2022.
Hate crimes against Jews comprise 15 percent of all hate crimes in the United States, and 68 percent of religion-related hate crimes, the FBI reported.
Interestingly, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) recorded 8,873 antisemitic incidents across the United States — a 140 percent increase from the 3,698 incidents recorded in 2022 and the highest number of record since the ADL began tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979.
“In fact, ADL tracked more incidents in 2023 than in the previous three years combined,” the organization said in its report on the issue.
“Assault incidents increased by 45 percent to 161 incidents, vandalism increased 69 percent to 2,177 incidents and harassment increased 184 percent to 6,535 incidents.
The October 7, 2023 massacre that launched the war against Israel by Hamas terrorists in Gaza accounted for much of the hate.
Between October 7 and the end of 2023, ADL tabulated 5,204 incidents, more than the incident total for the whole of 2022. Fifty-two percent of the incidents after October 7 (2,718) included references to Israel, Zionism or Palestine.
Incidents at K-12 schools increased by 135 percent to 1,162 incidents. Incidents at Jewish institutions jumped by 237 percent to 1,987, driven mostly by massive waves of hoax threats directed at synagogues and other institutions in the summer, fall and winter.
Incidents on college and university campuses spiked by a staggering 321 percent to 922 incidents, most of which occurred after the October 7 massacre by Hamas in southern Israel.
In New York State specifically, nearly 44 percent of all recorded hate crime incidents and 88 percent of religious-based hate crimes targeted Jewish victims in 2023, the largest share of all such crimes, according to a report by the NYS Comptroller’s Office.
When considering the above data, add this to your thoughts: Jews represent just two percent of the population in the United States.
