Committee Chair MK Oded Forer (Yisrael Beitenu) said, “Since the outbreak of the Swords of Iron war, the scope of antisemitism has increased by hundreds of percent all over the world.”
By Rachel Avraham
The Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Affairs convened and reported that there have been over 10,000 anti-Semitic events in the United States since the October 7 massacre. The Knesset committee reached this conclusion based upon statistics produced by the Anti-Defamation League: “According to the ADL Center on Extremism, which gathers reports and tracks antisemitic incident data, these more than 10,000 antisemitic incidents break down into the following categories: Over 8,015 incidents of verbal or written harassment; over 1,840 incidents of vandalism; and over 150 incidents of physical assault.”
At least 1,200 of these anti-Semitic incidents occurred on college campuses, thus representing a 500% increase since last year: “Over 2,000 occurred at Jewish institutions such as synagogues and Jewish centers. More than half of all incidents at Jewish institutions took the form of bomb threats (only 81 bomb threats against Jewish institutions were recorded in the same period in the prior year). ADL’s preliminary data also found that over 3,000 of all incidents took place during anti-Israel rallies, which featured regular explicit expressions of support for terrorist groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).”
Committee Chair MK Oded Forer (Yisrael Beitenu) said, “Since the outbreak of the Swords of Iron war, the scope of antisemitism has increased by hundreds of percent all over the world. The Jews of the Diaspora are living in fear and are forced to [hide their identity in public]. Antisemitism against Jews exists all over the world. The responsibility for the safety of the Jews lies with their respective countries. Blatant antisemitic discourse, and denial of the October 7 massacre, is taking place on social networks, but this discourse is not being handled with sanctions or deterring penalties.” Committee Chair MK Forer reiterated the urgency of defining Zionism as a protected value on American campuses.
ADL CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt added that there has been a 200% increase in anti-Semitic incidents since the beginning of the war: “The media space and the social networks are the eighth front in the war Israel and the Jewish people are fighting. The approach to the fight against anti-Semitism has to change. I call upon the Israeli government to invest more funds and to adapt new tactics to fight against anti-Semitism.”
Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli said, “Iran is driving antisemitism on the social networks, and some of the Gulf States support the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood.” He said antisemitic activists who are operating under the auspices of human rights groups are leading antisemitic activity worldwide. “A few months ago the ministry set up a control center that succeeded in transferring intelligence information on the antisemitic assaults in Amsterdam. The fight against antisemitism is, for all intents and purposes, a war. We cannot fight antisemitism without strengthening Jewish identity,” Minister Chikli said.
Yaakov Hagoel, Chairman of the Executive of the World Zionist Organization (WZO), concluded, “The safety of Jews in the Diaspora lies first of all in the hands of the sovereign governments [of their respective countries]. The countries must preserve the safety and sense of security. Governments around the world are not doing enough to prevent antisemitism. We must work in a number of areas: education, legislation and enforcement. The Jewish communities of the world should know how to demand their rights from their [home] countries. The State of Israel should support the Jewish communities and assist them by providing security apparatus and strengthening the sense of security of the entire Jewish nation, everywhere in the world. A strong State of Israel is a strong Jewish nation. When the war ends, tens of thousands more will arrive in Israel. I wish to thank the Government of Israel, which has recognized Jews who have been harmed in antisemitic attacks abroad as victims of hostile acts.”
