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Anti-Jewish Hate Crimes Reach Record High in US, New FBI Report Reveals
An anti-Israel protester burns an Israeli flag in front of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, on June 8, 2024. Photo: Aashish Kiphayet/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect
Anti-Jewish hate crimes in the US spiked to a record high last year, and American Jews were the most targeted of any religious group in the country, according to a new report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The FBI on Monday released its 2023 Hate Crimes Report, which found that hate crimes against Jews increased a staggering 63 percent year over year, from 1,124 in 2022 to 1,832 in 2023. Last year’s total was the highest number ever recorded by the FBI since it began collecting data in 1991.
Antisemitic hate crimes also accounted for 67 percent of all religiously motivated hate crimes and 15 percent of all hate crimes of any kind recorded by the FBI in 2023, despite Jews making up just 2 percent of the US population.
The FBI report came out amid a historic surge in antisemitism both in the US and around the world, especially across Europe, following the Palestinian terror group Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, amid the ensuing war in Gaza. The onslaught was the deadliest single-day killing of Jews since the Holocaust.
“As the Jewish community is still reeling from Hamas’s brutal attack against Israelis on Oct. 7, we are simultaneously contending with an earth-shattering increase in antisemitic violence,” American Jewish Committee (AJC) CEO Ted Deutch said in a statement. “The [reported antisemitic crimes] have taken a severe toll on so many American Jews’ way of life. The worst part of this new reality is that young Jews are increasingly on the receiving end of this rise in antisemitic hate, according to AJC’s State of Antisemitism in America 2023 Report. It’s unacceptable that in America of all places there are nearly five antisemitic hate crimes on average per day.”
Surveys from earlier this year revealed that over one-third of Jewish college students have reported needing to hide their Jewish identity on campus, where antisemitic incidents have been particularly rampant, skyrocketing to record levels.
Following the release of the data, the AJC noted that “the actual numbers of incidents is likely greater,” as hate crimes are widely underreported across the country.
“Because many major cities continue to not report hate crimes, the true state of antisemitism in the US is likely much worse than the record number of antisemitic hate crimes in the FBI’s data,” the group said. “The difficulties faced by local, state, and national law enforcement agencies in accurately documenting and reporting this information deprives communities and elected officials the opportunity to truly understand the degree to which hate-based violence permeates American society.”
The FBI data came after the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released a report in April showing antisemitic incidents in the US rose 140 percent last year, reaching a record high of 8,873 outrages — an average of 24 every day. Most of the incidents occurred after Oct. 7, during the ensuing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
On college campuses specifically, the ADL report found that antisemitic incidents rose 321 percent, disrupting the studies of Jewish students and leaving them uncertain about the fate of the American Jewish community.
“At a time when the Jewish community is still suffering from the sharp rise in antisemitism following Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, the record-high number of anti-Jewish hate crime incidents is unfortunately entirely consistent with the Jewish community’s experience and ADL’s tracking,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement on the new FBI report. “Hate crimes are uniquely harmful, traumatizing both the individual and their community.”
“Although it’s encouraging to see more law enforcement agencies participating in reporting hate crimes data in 2023, we still have a long way to go toward ensuring comprehensive data collection that provides a more accurate picture of the lived experience of targeted communities across the country,” Greenblatt added. “Data drives policy, and without having a complete understanding of the problem, we cannot effectively address this significant surge in hate violence.”
Both the AJC and the ADL called on the US Congress to pass the Improving Reporting to Prevent Hate Act, which among other measures would require law enforcement agencies representing large cities to report credible hate crimes data to the FBI in order to be eligible for certain federal funding.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
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