Antisemitic incidents across the U.S. last year broke all previous records, fueled by the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel, numbers released by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Tuesday show.
The total number of antisemitic incidents in the form of assaults, harassment and vandalism tallied in 2023 is 8,873, according to ADL data. The organization says this 140% increase from 2022’s then-record numbers is the highest annual number in the last 45 years, “since ADL started tracking this data in 1979.”
Of all the incidents computed, 5,204 of them were post-Oct. 7, “reflecting global trends as Jewish communities worldwide faced heightened tensions and hatred in response to the massacre and conflict.”
The ADL says the United States saw an average of 24 antisemitic incidents a day in 2023.
From left to right, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY),New York City Mayor Eric Adams, ADL regional director Scott Richman and Israel Nitzan, Acting Consul General of Israel attend the Anti-Defamation League annual Walk Against Hate in Van Cortland Park in New York on Aug. 20, 2023. ( Lev Radin/VIEWpress)
“Antisemitism is nothing short of a national emergency, a five-alarm fire that is still raging across the country and in our local communities and campuses,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. “Jewish Americans are being targeted for who they are at school, at work, on the street, in Jewish institutions and even at home. This crisis demands immediate action from every sector of society and every state in the union. We need every governor to develop and put in place a comprehensive strategy to fight antisemitism, just as the administration has done at the national level.”
Protestors demonstrate near Columbia University on Feb. 2, 2024 in New York City. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
Of the three types of offenses – harassment saw the highest jump, followed by vandalism. The states with the highest number of incidents were California, New York, New Jersey, Florida and Massachusetts. The numbers from the five states added together total nearly half of the total incidents.
Out of 8,873 total incidents, the ADL said, 3,162 “specifically contained elements referencing Israel or Zionism.” up dramatically from 241 reported incidents of that nature in 2022.
Last week, it was reported that Columbia University suspended at least four students over an anti-Israel event last month that featured a speaker “known to support terrorism.“
The school’s student newspaper, the Columbia Spectator, reported the students face disciplinary action in connection to the March 24 panel titled, “Resistance 101,” which featured Khaled Barakat among its speakers.
Scott Hannaford, 50, was charged with setting fire to a rabbi’s van in Florida. (Broward Sheriff’s Office)
Last month, police in Florida arrested a man they say intentionally set fire to a rabbi’s car. The rabbi had said security cameras showed the man lighting his van on fire and unsuccessfully attempting to light the building on fire, before the fire eventually spread from the vehicle to the building itself.
Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.