Dear John,

ADL’s latest Audit of Antisemitic Incidents has just been released. It reveals an appalling high-water mark for antisemitic incidents in the United States since ADL began measuring. The 9,354 assaults, harassment and vandalism incidents that took place in 2024 are the highest ever tracked in the Audit. This is the fourth year in a row that antisemitic incidents exceeded all previous years since ADL began conducting this annual analysis decades ago.

Among the alarming findings in this year’s Audit:

• Campus incidents soared to nearly one in five of all incidents tracked, totaling 1,694 in all.
• Antisemitic activity increased by 11 percent at business establishments, including Jewish-owned businesses.
• There were just over a thousand more incidents of antisemitic harassment than last year, including 647 bomb threats.
• Of the nearly 200 assaults in the audit, Orthodox Jews were targeted 30 percent of the time.

But this is not just about numbers... Behind each incident are the people affected by antisemitism. For example, in suburban Connecticut last year, a ten-year-old Jewish girl was struck in the face by another youth who said, “I can punch you because you are Jewish.” When another youth stepped up to intervene, the attacker said “What, are you a Jew too? Who let all the Jews in here?”

ADL quickly stepped in to support the family of the Jewish youth who had been attacked, and to address the incident on multiple fronts — working with our partners in the local Jewish community, providing resources to the school district and meeting with political leaders. Our regional team also pushed lawmakers to support a bill focused on antisemitism in area schools. We admire that Jewish youth’s resilience in speaking up and pushing back against hate. After the incident, she even asked her mother for a Jewish star necklace to show her identity.

Now, multiply that again and again and again. The incidents we tracked in the new Audit add up to an average of more than 25 targeted anti-Jewish incidents a day. More than one an hour...

These incidents are pervasive across the country; they are happening on campus, online and in communities ranging from that quiet Connecticut town to big cities. This year was notable because this was the first time that incidents containing elements related to Israel or Zionism made up a majority of those we recorded.

This horrifying level of antisemitism should never be accepted and yet, as our data shows, it has become a grim reality for our communities. Antisemitic incidents happened last year in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

👉 We need your help! In every state, there is more that can be done to protect Jews’ right to live, learn, work and worship without fear. Click here to urge your Governor to create or improve a statewide strategy to fight antisemitism.

Together, you and I and the rest of the ADL community will not waver. Antisemitic incidents happen every day, so every day we will be bold, resolved and innovative in monitoring and disrupting them. Thank you for Fighting Hate for Good with ADL.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Greenblatt

CEO and National Director

ADL