Antisemitic incidents reached an all-time high in the United States in 2021, with 2,717 incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism reported to the ADL.
The number of cases is the highest recorded since the ADL began tracking antisemitism in 1979. It adds up to an average of over seven incidents per day and is a 34 percent increase over 2020.
The ADL annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, which was released this week, found that antisemitic incidents in the U.S. reached record levels across nearly every category.
Attacks against Jewish institutions, including Jewish community centers (JCCs) and synagogues, were up by 61 percent while incidents at schools (kindergarten to 12th grade) increased by 106 percent. Incidents on college campuses rose by 21 percent.
Physical assaults triggered by antisemitism increased 167 percent, from 33 reported incidents in 2020 to 88 in 2021, while antisemitic harassment increased 43 percent. Antisemitic vandalism increased 14 percent.
“While we have always seen a rise in antisemitic activity during periods of increased hostilities between Israel and terrorist groups, the violence we witnessed in America during the conflict last May was shocking,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said. “Jews were being attacked in the streets for no other reason than the fact that they were Jewish, and it seemed as if the working assumption was that if you were Jewish, you were blameworthy for what was happening half a world away.”
The report noted a “substantial surge” in antisemitic incidents during May, with a 148 percent increase compared to the previous May.
The ADL noted that “as Jewish individuals were violently beaten in the streets from New York to Los Angeles, a total of 387 incidents were reported that month with 297 of the incidents occurring after May 10, the date marking the official start of military action.”
There were also several other spikes during the year, with antisemitic incidents surging in November and December – “times when there was no similar triggering factor.”
A further 18 percent of incidents in 2021 (at least 484) were attributable to domestic extremists, the study found.
“When it comes to antisemitic activity in America, you cannot point to any single ideology or belief system, and in many cases, we simply don’t know the motivation,” Greenblatt said. “But we do know that Jews are experiencing more antisemitic incidents than we have in this country in at least 40 years, and that’s a deeply troubling indicator of larger societal fissures.”
A total of 494 incidents were identified through partnerships between ADL and other Jewish organizations, such as Community Security Initiative (CSI), Community Security Service (CSS), Hillel International, Secure Community Network (SCN), Union of Reform Judaism and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
According to the ADL, this shared reporting accounted for 18 percent of the total incidents.
“Even without improved reporting through cooperative partnerships, the 2021 Audit numbers still would have been the highest recorded by ADL, with 2,223 incidents,” the ADL said.