Antisemitic incidents in the US have skyrocketed up by 900% over the past decade, Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), told Michael Starr on The Jerusalem Post Podcast.
Greenblatt explained that while there was no doubt a rise in antisemitism since October 7, 2023, it had already been steadily climbing over the years.
"What I can tell you is that antisemitism, both measured in terms of attitudes and incidents, has surged dramatically, not just since post-10/7, but really over the last decade or so," he said.
"We started to see a spike in 2016, which had continued, relatively speaking, unabated. In 2019, we had a record high that was followed by a new record in 2021, and then a new record in 2022, and then we blew through the number in 2023, of course, after 10/7. So just in terms of incidents, we've literally seen a 900% increase over the past decade."
Incidents, as defined by the ADL, include harassment, vandalism, and violence directed at Jews or Jewish institutions due to their identity. Harassment, however, is not necessarily a crime, and can constitute things such as workplace discrimination, which would be the subject of a civil suit but not criminal charges.
How has antisemitism risen and declined over the years?
Greenblatt noted that the ADL releases annual surveys to help gauge the prevalence of antisemitism in the US. What these have shown is that antisemitism has fallen, only to rise back up again in recent years.
"When we first did this kind of research in the 1960s, we found that nearly 30% of the US population has elevated, or call it intense, antisemitic attitudes," he said.
However, this would change.
"Over the years, that number went down, down, down, down, and stayed quite low between, say, 8-12% for decades," Greenblatt continued. "When we ran this survey in 2019, it was, I think, 11%.
"When we ran the study again in 2022, that number had leapt from 11% to 20% of the general population. And when we ran the study again in 2024, it was up to 24%."
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