Anti-Semitism in U.S. surged in 2017, a new report finds
Harassment, threats and vandalism cases targeting Jews in the United States surged to near-record levels in 2017, jumping 57% over the previous year, according to a new report by a prominent civil rights organization.
The Anti-Defamation League counted 1,986 anti-Semitic incidents — the second-highest number since the group began tracking them nearly four decades ago.
The figure represents the largest annual jump the organization has ever recorded. Physical attacks, which accounted for fewer than 1% of the incidents, was the only category that fell.
The overall count, based on data from law enforcement, victims and local Jewish organizations, includes an increase in bomb threats against Jewish centers, vandalism at synagogues and Jewish cemeteries and threats at schools.
"We've never had a moment like this," said Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the New York-based group. "We've seen so much intolerance sneak into the public."
Greenblatt pointed to newly resurgent white supremacists, such as those who took part in a deadly Charlottesville, Va., rally last year, as a major factor in the rise. "Hate groups and white supremacists feel emboldened, and they are not just coming out online but are also getting involved in political campaigns," Greenblatt said.
He also cited "the divisive state of our national discourse" and a poor example set by President Trump, who at times has been slow to denounce anti-Semitic attacks and during his campaign retweeted white supremacists and used what Greenblatt described as anti-Semitic imagery in social media posts.
Trump has denied any ill feeling toward Jews, noting that he has Jewish grandchildren and calling himself the "least anti-Semitic person you've ever seen in your entire life."
The audit released Tuesday counted 1,015 incidents of harassment, a jump of 41% over 2016 . They include 163 bomb threats against Jewish centers. Law enforcement arrested two men — in Missouri and Israel — last year on separate charges of making the threats. The audit also tallied 952 instances of vandalism, an increase of 86%.
In a departure from those trends, the number of physical assaults fell from 36 to 19 — a decline of 47%.
"Anti-Semitism is the canary in the coal mine. It often augurs other forms of bias — xenophobia, misogyny, racism," Greenblatt said.
Other civil rights groups have raised concerns recently about rising intolerance. In the annual count of hate groups it released this month, the Southern Poverty Law Center found that the number of white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups had grown the most last year — from 99 to 121.