TEL AVIV, Israel — A recent report from Tel Aviv University reveals a noticeable increase in antisemitic attacks since the onset of the Gaza conflict, showing a slight decline last year compared to the heightened levels immediately following the October 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel. The annual global antisemitism report dismisses the belief that antisemitism continuously surged due to the Gaza war and associated humanitarian crises.
Uriya Shavit, the report’s chief editor, highlighted a significant rise in antisemitic actions against Jewish communities from October to December 2023. However, he noted a worldwide decrease in incidents during 2024. Despite this decline, 2024’s numbers remained substantially higher than the pre-war period in 2022. Shavit remarked on the resurgence of antisemitism correlating with perceived vulnerability in Israel’s position.
While global trends indicate a reduction, Australia and Italy bucked this pattern. Australia reported 1,713 instances in 2024, up from 1,200 the previous year, including a serious arson attack in Melbourne and vandalism in Hobart, Tasmania. Italy experienced similar spikes, with 877 incidents in 2024, compared to 454 in 2023, and 241 in 2022. The United States and Argentina also saw slight increases, but not to the extent of Australia and Italy.
A critical issue highlighted by the report is the lack of enforcement actions against perpetrators of antisemitic attacks. With many incidents going unreported, and a small fraction resulting in arrests, cities with significant Jewish populations, like New York, Chicago, London, and Toronto, saw less than 10% of antisemitic crimes lead to arrests from 2021 to 2023.
Carl Yonker, a senior researcher who contributed to the report, emphasized that without enforcement, educational and legislative efforts are ineffective. The annual report by Tel Aviv University’s Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry and the Irwin Cotler Institute for Democracy, Human Rights and Justice was released in conjunction with Israel’s commemoration of Holocaust Remembrance Day, a solemn remembrance of the 6 million Jews persecuted during the Holocaust, observed starting Wednesday evening.
Drawing data from police, national authorities, and local Jewish communities, the document provides a comprehensive picture of antisemitism globally. Coinciding with this report, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) also released its findings focusing on the United States. For the first time in nearly five decades, the ADL noted that incidents related to Israel, including protest slogans and signs critical of Israeli policies, accounted for over half of the antisemitism incidents in 2024.
These findings contribute to the ongoing, heated dialogue among American Jews and other groups on whether vigorous critiques of Israeli policies and Zionism, which advocates for Israel as the Jewish national homeland, constitute antisemitism. The discussion reflects broader societal divisions over the intersection of political activism and discriminatory speech.