North America
Jewish communities in the United States have faced unprecedented levels of antisemitism since October 7, with record numbers of threats, assaults, and acts of harassment
The October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the war that followed triggered one of the most significant increases in antisemitism in modern American history. According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), more than 10,000 antisemitic incidents were recorded in the U.S. in the year that followed — an increase of more than 200% over the previous 12 months. The FBI reported a record 1,938 anti-Jewish hate crime incidents in 2024, the highest number since it began collecting hate crime data in 1991. Jewish organizations, universities, and law enforcement agencies across the country have documented a sustained surge in harassment, vandalism, threats, and violence targeting Jewish individuals and institutions.
Although Jews make up roughly 2% of the U.S. population, anti-Jewish incidents account for nearly 70% of all religion-based hate crimes nationwide. Secure Community Network, the primary security organization for North American Jewish institutions, reported nearly 6,900 threat incidents and a record 1,642 bomb threats and swatting incidents in the year after October 7, forcing synagogues, Jewish schools, and community centers to significantly increase security. Many American Jews have grown more cautious about publicly displaying their Jewish identity — avoiding kippot or Stars of David in public, changing commuting routes, and limiting participation in Jewish community events.
College campuses became a major flashpoint: the ADL documented 1,694 antisemitic incidents on campuses in 2024 alone, an 84% increase over 2023. Some of the most serious incidents since October 7 include the death of Paul Kessler at a Thousand Oaks demonstration, the shooting of an Orthodox Jewish man on his way to synagogue in Chicago, an attack on Jewish students at DePaul University, and the murder of two Israeli Embassy employees, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, in Washington, D.C. in May 2025.
Recognizing the role social media plays in amplifying hate, Shai Fund launched the Antisemitism Watch website. Every month, the site monitors antisemitic content across 8 major platforms and scores it against the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, tracking spikes in antisemitic posts to show how real-world events trigger surges of online hate — and to help determine when rhetoric crosses from protected speech into incitement to violence. The goal is to raise the kind of awareness that drives real accountability and helps bring justice to those seeking to harm Jewish communities in America.
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