Many Jewish adults in the United States report experiencing assault, harassment, and other forms of antisemitic incidents over the past year, according to a new poll conducted in June. The survey from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that approximately three in ten Jewish adults said they or someone in their household experienced physical assault, verbal abuse, online harassment, or damaged property because of their Jewish background.
The findings paint a picture of a community increasingly concerned about personal safety. About one in ten Jewish adults reported that they or someone in their household was physically assaulted in the past year. A similar share experienced property damage or destruction specifically targeted at them because of their religious or cultural identity. About two in ten said they or someone in their household was called a slur, threatened, verbally harassed, or verbally abused. Online harassment and cyberbullying affected approximately two in ten respondents as well.
The transformation in Jewish Americans’ sense of security has occurred over a remarkably short timeframe. Roughly six in ten Jewish adults said they now feel less safe as a Jewish person in the United States compared to before the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. This represents a substantial shift in perception driven by increased American criticism of U.S. support for Israel and a documented rise in violent incidents targeting Jewish communities.
About one-third of Jewish adults reported feeling very or somewhat safe in the country, while another third said they feel very or somewhat unsafe. The remaining roughly three in ten said they feel neither safe nor unsafe. Those with closer connections to Israel or who identify as Jewish primarily through their religious affiliation reported feeling more threatened in the current environment than secular Jews or those who identify Jewish through cultural or family ties.
The sense of vulnerability has prompted behavioral changes. Approximately four in ten Jewish adults said they are now less likely to wear, carry, or display things that might identify them as Jewish compared to before October 2023. About half said they are roughly as likely as before, while roughly one in ten said they are more likely to display their Jewish identity.
Jewish adults who regularly attend religious services reported experiencing harassment at even higher rates than the Jewish population overall. Slightly less than half of those who attend religious services at least once a month said they or someone in their household faced verbal harassment, while a similar share experienced online harassment. About one-quarter reported dealing with physical attacks or property damage. These findings underscore the particular vulnerability of highly visible members of the Jewish community, coming amid several high-profile attacks on Jewish religious institutions in recent years.
The poll also revealed significant internal divisions within the Jewish community itself regarding Israel and what constitutes antisemitism. Jewish adults remain deeply divided over whether protesting events related to Israel amounts to antisemitism. About half said anti-Israel protests are not a form of prejudice against Jewish people generally, while roughly four in ten said they are. This internal disagreement reflects broader tensions emerging within the community as Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza continue to generate international controversy.
Among those with strong emotional attachments to Israel, concerns about prejudice run high. About six in ten Jewish adults who describe themselves as extremely or very emotionally attached to Israel said prejudice against Jewish people is an extremely or very serious problem in the United States today.
The poll, conducted June 11-17, surveyed 3,040 adults across the nation drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel. The survey included detailed interviews with 1,022 Jewish adults, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 5.0 percentage points for the Jewish subsample.
The findings coincide with other data showing elevated levels of antisemitic incidents across the country. Law enforcement and community organizations have documented sharp increases in antisemitic harassment, vandalism, and assault over multiple consecutive years, particularly following the outbreak of war in Gaza nearly three years ago. The incidents have spanned online harassment, public spaces, educational institutions, workplaces, and areas near Jewish communal facilities.
Beyond the direct experiences of assault and harassment, many Jewish adults have also taken steps to enhance their sense of security. Some have altered their daily routines, avoided certain locations, modified their social media presence, and in some cases reconsidered their sense of belonging in the country. The poll captured the lived reality of a community navigating an environment they increasingly perceive as hostile to their religious and cultural identity.
The research underscores how the Gaza conflict and accompanying domestic polarization have reshaped the landscape for American Jews in a short period. What once might have seemed like fringe antisemitism has become sufficiently mainstream that significant portions of the Jewish community report altering fundamental aspects of their public identity and daily behavior out of concern for their safety. The tension between maintaining visible expressions of Jewish identity and remaining secure continues to weigh heavily on many adults across the country.