In the month following Hamas’s terror attack on Israel, antisemitic incidents in the U.S. increased by 316 percent compared to the same time period last year, according to preliminary data released two weeks ago by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). At the same time, Americans are growing increasingly concerned about antisemitism, with more than 70 percent agreeing in a new survey that Jew-hatred is a serious problem.

In the one-month period between Oct. 7 and Nov. 7, 2023, the ADL Center on Extremism documented 832 antisemitic incidents of assault, vandalism and harassment across the U.S., an average of nearly 28 incidents a day. This represents a 316 percent increase from the 200 incidents reported during the same period in 2022.

Among this number, since October 7, ADL Connecticut has responded to over 180 hate incidents as compared to 66 over the same time period last year.  Some of these include a bloody handprint on an Israeli flag, graffiti with swastikas in a school, and white supremacist propaganda flyers throughout the state of Connecticut.   ADL CT continues to respond to local incidents and be a valued resource to law enforcement, educators, and town officials.

Of the 832 incidents, ADL recorded 632 acts of harassment, 170 instances of vandalism, and 30 assaults.

ADL’s data shows that at least 200 of the 653 anti-Israel rallies held across the U.S. since Oct. 7 featured explicit or strong implicit support for Hamas and/or violence against Jews in Israel. These rallies are included in ADL’s tally of antisemitic incidents under the harassment category.

124 of the incidents took place on college campuses since Oct. 7, compared to only 12 incidents over the same time period last year.

“As we have seen repeatedly, when conflict arises in the Middle East, particularly when Israel exercises its right to self-defense, antisemitic incidents increase here in the U.S. and around the world,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “These include violent assaults on pro-Israeli students on college campuses, anti-Israel protests openly expressing support for terrorist organizations, as well as white supremacists distributing antisemitic fliers and banners blaming Jews for the war.”

Survey: 70% of Americans agree Jew-hatred is a serious, growing problem

As antisemitic incidents have dramatically spiked over the past few weeks, so too has public awareness of the problem, according to a new nationally representative survey from the ADL Center for Antisemitism Research. The survey of U.S. adults found that 71 percent of Americans agree Jew-hatred is a serious problem in the U.S. – a one-third increase from 2022, when 53 percent of Americans agreed.

The national survey of American adults, fielded weeks after the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, also found that 70 percent of Americans view antisemitism as a “growing problem,” a significant increase from 49 percent who responded similarly in 2022. In addition, 18 percent of those Americans surveyed indicated they had witnessed hatred of Jews in their specific community, an increase from 13 percent in 2022.

The survey also compared attitudes about Jew-hatred with attitudes about the Israel-Hamas war, finding that while a majority of Americans agreed that Jew-hatred is a serious problem and a growing problem regardless of their view on invading Gaza, there were higher rates of agreement that Jew-hatred is a serious and growing problem among those who believed Israel should invade Gaza. 

Relative to those who agree that Israel should invade Gaza to destroy Hamas, those who oppose an invasion scored 16 percent lower in agreement that Jew-hatred is a serious problem. Respondents who were Jewish and respondents who were more liberal were more likely to agree that Jew-hatred is a serious and growing problem.

Additionally, 47 percent of Americans say they are personally motivated to address antisemitism today, up from 38 percent a year ago. These responses did not vary significantly based on attitudes about the Israel-Gaza war.

“This crisis of antisemitism demands a fierce response, and it’s encouraging that nearly half of Americans feel personally motivated to address this challenge,” said Greenblatt. “To defeat this hatred, we need everyone to unequivocally call out this hatred for what it is – unacceptable – because we know antisemitic beliefs lead to antisemitic violence.”

This survey of a representative sample of 1,484 adults in the U.S. was conducted online through Prolific, a nationally representative survey platform, between Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, 2023. ADL compared the answers to a prior national survey on Antisemitic Attitudes in America collected in September and October of 2022.

ADL is the leading anti-hate organization in the world. A global leader in combating antisemitism, countering extremism and battling bigotry wherever and whenever it happens, ADL works to protect democracy and ensure a just and inclusive society for all.