1 in 4 American Jews has experienced antisemitism since 2016, ADL finds

Some 59% of respondents said they feel Jews are less safe in the United States than they were a decade ago.

Swastika on a wall (illustrative) (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
Swastika on a wall (illustrative)
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)

(JTA) — An annual survey from the Anti-Defamation League found that a quarter of American Jews have personally experienced antisemitism in the past five years, and that most American Jews have witnessed antisemitic comments targeting others.

In that same time period, 9% of Jewish respondents said they have been the victim of an antisemitic physical attack.

In total, 63% of Jewish respondents reported that they had either witnessed or experienced antisemitism in the years since 2016, an increase from 54% last year. The survey was taken in early January and includes responses from 503 Jewish-American adults. The margin of error is 4.4%.

The proportion of Jews who said they have experienced antisemitism or been the victim of a physical attack are slightly higher than they were last year but are within the margin of error. Last year, 20% of Jews said they had experienced antisemitism over the past five years, while 5% reported being the victim of a physical attack.

In addition, 40% of respondents said they heard antisemitic comments directed at someone else over the past year. Some 59% of respondents said they feel Jews are less safe in the United States than they were a decade ago, similar to the figure from last year’s survey.