ADL: U.S. Antisemitic Incidents Reach Highest Recorded Levels for the Fourth Consecutive Year
Incidents recorded in South and Southwest Texas are the second-highest ever recorded
Houston, TX, April 22, 2025
The massive spike in antisemitic incidents following the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel continued in 2024, with national totals again exceeding any other annual tally in the past 46 years. This is the fourth year in a row that annual incidents nationally exceeded the previous all-time high. In the Southwest region of Texas, 83 incidents of anti-Jewish vandalism and harassment were recorded – 78 percent of those considered anti-Israel.
“In El Paso, we recorded several incidents, including students facing antisemitic posters and harassment in their schools and a Jewish institution receiving a frightening threat. In the Houston area, we saw an alarming number of protests cross the line into antisemitism,” said Jackie Nirenberg, Interim Regional Director of ADL Southwest. “From a K-12 student beingbullied for simply believing Israel has a right to exist, to an artist's work being vandalized for no other reason than her Jewish identity, this was a trying time to be Jewish all over the state.”
There were 9,354 incidents of antisemitic assault, harassment and vandalism across the country, more than one per hour, according to ADL’s (the Anti-Defamation League) annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents. Eighty-three incidents across southern portions of Texasrepresent a slight decrease from the 2023 record of 106. Still, the 246 percent increase over the past five years is an alarming trend.
“This horrifying level of antisemitism should never be accepted and yet, as our data shows, it has become a persistent and grim reality for American Jewish communities,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “Jewish Americans continue to be harassed, assaulted and targeted for who they are on a daily basis and everywhere they go. But let’s be clear: we will remain proud of our Jewish culture, religion and identities, and we will not be intimidated by bigots.”
Antisemitic Incidents related to Israel or Zionism
In 2024, for the first time, a majority of all incidents (58 percent, or 5,452 incidents) were related to Israel. 78 percent of 2024 incidents (65) were related to Israel. Of all Israel-related incidents in southern Texas, 42 took place at anti-Israel rallies in the form of antisemitic speeches, chants, signs, and slogans. (About half of the more than 5,000 anti-Israel rallies tracked by ADL in 2024 contained antisemitic expressions; those that did not contain antisemitic elements were not included in the Audit. When antisemitic expressions of this sort appeared at a rally, ADL tabulated them as a single incident regardless of how many times they were repeated or how many different forms they took.)
Major Southwest Texas Findings
Harassment: 60 incidents made up 72% of the total incidents.
Vandalism: 23 incidents, 64% higher than the incidents of vandalism in 2023
K-12: 3 incidents were recorded on K-12 campuses
Activity and rhetoric documented at these rallies included: justification or glorification of antisemitic violence, promotion of classic antisemitic tropes including blood libel, conspiracy theories and signage equating Judaism or Zionism with Nazism, celebration of the anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack in Israel, and unapologetic support for terrorism, designated terrorist organizations and their leaders.
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) were the two most active organizers or co-sponsors of protests where antisemitic incidents occurred, and combined were involved in over 50 percent of the protests in this category.
"In 2024, hatred toward Israel was a driving force behind antisemitism across the U.S., with more than half of all antisemitic incidents referencing Israel or Zionism," said Oren Segal, ADL Senior Vice President for Counter-Extremism and Intelligence. "These incidents, along with all those documented in the Audit, serve as a clear reminder that silence is not an option. Good people must stand up, push back, and confront antisemitism wherever it appears. And that starts with understanding what fuels it and learning to recognize it in all its forms. All the data is available in the H.E.A.T. Map, highlighting our commitment to transparency."
Major National Findings
Assaults: 196 incidents (a 21 percent increase from 2023) were categorized as assault, defined as cases where Jewish people (or people perceived to be Jewish) were targeted with physical violence accompanied by evidence of antisemitic animus. Orthodox Jews were targeted in 30 percent of assaults. The 196 incidents of assault targeted at least 250 victims, none of these assaults were fatal.
Vandalism: 2,606 incidents (a 20 percent increase from 2023) were categorized as vandalism, defined as cases where property was damaged along with evidence of antisemitic intent or where there was an antisemitic impact on Jews. Swastikas, which are generally interpreted as symbols of antisemitic hatred, were present in 37 percentof these cases.
Harassment: 6,552 incidents (up from 6,535 incidents recorded in 2023) were categorized as harassment, defined as cases where one or more Jewish people (or people perceived to be Jewish) were harassed with language that includes antisemitic slurs, stereotypes or tropes. There were 647 bomb threats. The harassment category also includes many of the expressions of antisemitism occurring at anti-Israel rallies described above.
Incidents on (or around) college and university campuses rose more steeply than any other location type. In 2024, ADL recorded 1,694 antisemitic incidents on college campuses, which is 84 percent higher than in 2023. Campus incidents comprised 18 percent of all incidents, a larger proportion than in any previous Audit.
Antisemitic activity also increased by 19 percent in public areas (3,452 incidents) and by 11 percent at business establishments, including Jewish-owned businesses. 860 incidents were reported at non-Jewish K-12 schools in 2024, a decrease of 26 percent. Given the insidious nature of bullying, compounded by the fact that many children may not feel empowered to report their experiences, it is likely that the actual number of school-based antisemitic incidents was significantly higher than the data reported in the Audit.
Antisemitic incidents occurred in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The states with the highest levels of incidents were New York (1,437) and California (1,344). Their largest cities, New York City (976) and Los Angeles (297), also reported the most incidents.
White Supremacist Propaganda
There were 962 antisemitic propaganda incidents (dissemination of antisemitic print materials and public events) connected to white supremacist groups last year, down 17 percent from 2023. Incidents were recorded in 47 states and the District of Columbia. Three groups (Patriot Front, Goyim Defense League and the White Lives Matter network) were responsible for 94 percent of this activity.
Targeting of Jewish Institutions
While incidents decreased by 14 percent at Jewish institutions, they remained elevated compared to pre-October 7 levels, with 1,702 incidents recorded in 2024. Moreover, assaults at Jewish institutions more than doubled (from 9 to 20 incidents) and vandalism increased by 39 percent (from 148 to 205 incidents).
Jewish organizations were targeted with a total of 627 bomb threats, 89 percent of which targeted synagogues. Congregants were harassed and even assaulted; some anti-Israel groups also escalated their tactics, protesting Jewish religious and cultural institutions on dozens of occasions.
Methodology
The ADL Audit includes both criminal and non-criminal acts of harassment, vandalism and assault against individuals and groups as reported to ADL by victims, law enforcement, the media and partner organizations and evaluated by ADL’s experts.
The complete dataset for antisemitic incidents for 2016-2024 is available on ADL’s H.E.A.T. Map, an interactive online tool that allows users to geographically chart antisemitic incidents and extremist activity. The full dataset can also be downloaded by anyone who would like to take a closer look at individual incidents.
ADL is careful to not conflate general criticism of Israel or anti-Israel activism with antisemitism. Legitimate political protest, support for Palestinian rights or expressions of opposition to Israeli policies is not included in the Audit. ADL’s approach to Israel-related expressions comports with the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
The complete Audit methodology is included in the report on our website.
The Audit offers a snapshot of one of the ways American Jews encounter antisemitism, but a full understanding of antisemitism in the U.S. requires other forms of analysis as well, including public opinion polling, assessments of online antisemitism and examinations of extremist activity, all of which ADL offers in other reports, such as: ADL Survey of Antisemitic Attitudes in America 2024, Campus Antisemitism One Year After the Hamas Terrorist Attacks, the ADL Global 100: Index of Antisemitism, Online Hate and Harassment: The American Experience and White Supremacist Propaganda Assessment Focused on Jews and Immigrants in 2024.
ADL is the leading anti-hate organization in the world. Founded in 1913, its timeless mission is “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.” Today, ADL continues to fight all forms of antisemitism and bias, using innovation and partnerships to drive impact. 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. More at www.adl.org.
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