Anti-Semitic incidents in US have doubled since 2015, Anti-Defamation League says

Anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. have doubled since 2015, according to new data from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

The ADL’s annual audit of anti-Semitic incidents released Tuesday revealed a total of 1,879 attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions in 2018. The figure was down slightly from 2017, but still near historic levels and nearly double the number of attacks that were recorded in 2015, according to the ADL.

{mosads}Jonathan Greenblatt, the ADL’s CEO and national director, said in a statement that there continues to be “an alarmingly high number of anti-Semitic acts.”

“We’ve worked hard to push back against anti-Semitism, and succeeded in improving hate crime laws, and yet we continue to experience an alarmingly high number of anti-Semitic acts,” Greenblatt said.

“We unfortunately saw this trend continue into 2019 with the tragic shooting at the Chabad synagogue in Poway. It’s clear we must remain vigilant in working to counter the threat of violent anti-Semitism and denounce it in all forms, wherever the source and regardless of the political affiliation of its proponents,” Greenblatt added.

The attack was one of 39 physical attacks on Jews reported last year, according to the ADL. Last year saw a 105 percent increase in physical assaults against Jewish people, the group found.

According to the ADL, 13 percent of the total number of anti-Semitic incidents recorded last year were attributed to known extremist organizations or people inspired by extremist ideologies — the highest level since 2004, the group found.

The ADL called on Congress to hold additional hearings on the rise in anti-Semitic incidents and hate crimes, as well as on the proliferation of extremist groups and their ideologies. The group also urged lawmakers to back legislation to improve responses to and collect data on domestic terrorism.

The release of the audit’s findings comes days after a shooting at a synagogue in California left one person dead and multiple people injured.

Last year saw the deadliest attack against the Jewish community in U.S. history when a gunman shot and killed 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.