Two Years After October 7 Attacks: Jews Face Rising Antisemitism & Violence
Two years after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks on Israel — killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage — the world is waiting to see if President Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan negotiations happening in Egypt will bring the release of the remaining hostages and an end to the war.
IMPACTS IN THE U.S.
The terrorist attack was the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. It also prompted the ongoing war in Gaza, which has killed over 67,000 Palestinians so far, according to the Hamas-led Gaza Health Ministry.
A rising number of Jewish Americans say they now regularly experience antisemitism. Over half (57%) of respondents agreed that antisemitism is now seen as a normal Jewish experience, according to a new survey from the Anti-Defamation League.
Around a fifth (18%) of American Jews said they were either the victim of a physical attack, experienced threat of physical assault, or experienced verbal harassment because they were Jewish.
Roughly a third of American Jews said they’d discussed “worst-case scenario” plans — with 14% developing plans to flee the country, 13% adding security systems, and 9% buying a gun.
In recent months, there have been a string of deadly attacks targeting Jewish communities — including a shooting at a pro-Israel gathering in Boulder, Colorado, and another outside Washington, D.C.’s Capital Jewish Museum that killed two Israeli Embassy staffers. And overseas, during Yom Kippur just last week, a man attacked worshippers at a synagogue in Manchester, U.K.