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Anti-Jewish hate crimes increased by 63% since 2023, FBI reports
New York, NY, September 23, 2024 … Data released today by the Federal Bureau of Investigation reveals that reported hate crime incidents across the country reached a record high of 11,862 in 2023. In 2023, reported single-bias anti-Jewish hate crime incidents rose to 1,832 incidents, a sharp increase of 63 percent from 2022, and the highest number ever recorded by the FBI since it began collecting data in 1991.
Although Jews only make up around 2 percent of the U.S. population, reported single-bias anti-Jewish hate crimes comprised 15 percent of all hate crimes and 68 percent of all reported religion-based hate crimes in 2023, which is consistent with patterns from prior years.
“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,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “Hate crimes are uniquely harmful, traumatizing both the individual and their community.”
According to the FBI data, a clear majority of hate crime incidents across the country (approximately 51.5 percent) in 2023 were motivated by bias based on race, ethnicity or national origin – as has been the case for decades – with reported anti-Black hate crimes comprising the single largest portion of those incidents. Reported single-bias anti-Hispanic or Latino hate crime incidents increased from 738 in 2022 to 812 in 2023. Reported single-bias anti-Muslim hate crime incidents rose from 158 in 2022 to 236 in 2023. Reported anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime incidents increased from 2,391 in 2022 to 2,557 in 2023. And reported single-bias religion-based hate crimes, which represented approximately 23 percent of all reported hate crimes, rose from 2,042 in 2022 to 2,699 in 2023.
ADL, which keeps its own count of both criminal and non-criminal acts of hate against Jews, counted a total of 8,873 antisemitic incidents in 2023, a 140-percent increase from the prior year, and the highest number on record since ADL began tracking such data in 1979. Assaults – considered the most serious incident type because it involves person-on-person physical violence – increased by 45 percent in 2023.
According to the FBI data released today, a total of 16,009 law enforcement agencies, which represent 83.5 percent of the agencies enrolled in the hate crime data collection program, participated in hate crimes reporting for 2023. Despite an increase in the number of law enforcement agencies that participated in reporting data to the FBI in 2023 – for the first time in six years – far too many agencies still either do not participate in reporting or are likely not participating in a fully accurate way.
“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,” said Greenblatt. “Data drives policy, and without having a complete understanding of the problem, we cannot effectively address this significant surge in hate violence.”
ADL calls on Congress to pass the Improved Reporting to Prevent Hate Act, which would require law enforcement agencies to credibly report hate crimes to the FBI to be eligible for certain federal funding. In addition, ADL urges Congress to pass the Countering Antisemitism Act, which would ensure that the policies and infrastructure of the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism are made permanent.