A new annual report has found that antisemitic violence reached its highest level in 30 years in 2025, with 20 Jews killed in four separate attacks during the year, according to global incident data compiled by researchers.
The report, which documents antisemitic incidents worldwide, said the deadly attacks included a Hanukkah assault in Sydney, Australia, where 15 members of the Jewish community were killed.
It added that overall antisemitic incidents across Western countries remained significantly higher than in 2022, the year before the Gaza war began, reflecting a sustained rise in hostility in multiple regions.
Published by researchers at Tel Aviv University, the study also referenced broader geopolitical tensions, including a US-brokered ceasefire in October aimed at ending two years of conflict in Gaza, as well as a brief 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June.
It noted that these developments formed part of a volatile global backdrop in which antisemitic incidents continued to fluctuate rather than decline.
In both New York and the United Kingdom, the report observed a surprising post-war increase in antisemitic activity.
In the UK, incidents rose from 3,556 in 2024 to 3,700 the following year, during which two people were killed in a car ramming and stabbing attack on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.
In the United States, the report cited the killing of two Israeli embassy staff members in a shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. It also referenced another attack in Colorado, where a man used a flamethrower and Molotov cocktail against a demonstration supporting Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
The authors warned that antisemitism has become increasingly normalized in societies with large Jewish populations, stating: “High levels of antisemitism have become a normalized feature in societies with large Jewish minorities,” the report’s authors wrote.
In France, which has the third-largest Jewish population globally after Israel and the United States, overall incidents fell slightly from 1,570 in 2024 to 1,320 in 2025. However, violent cases increased over the same period, rising from 106 to 126.
Germany also recorded a decline in antisemitic incidents, with 5,729 cases in 2025 compared to 6,560 the previous year.
Despite this drop, the report stressed that current levels remain sharply higher than before the Gaza war, when 2,811 incidents were recorded in 2022.
The report also criticised Israel’s approach to combating antisemitism, saying efforts to broaden its definition risk weakening its meaning and undermining its effectiveness.
It argued that political and media discourse in Israel has, at times, stretched the term “antisemitism” too broadly.
It stated that this trend can undermine legitimate efforts to address hate, adding that politicisation has “discredit[ed] a crucial fight by politicizing it and emptying it of analytic meaning.”
“The label of antisemitism is harsh and should be applied only after careful consideration and based on solid criteria,” the report said.
In the United States, the report highlighted growing concerns over antisemitic rhetoric in political discourse, including among supporters of President Donald Trump.
While acknowledging his policies such as recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the Abraham Accords, and efforts targeting Iran’s nuclear program, it warned that antisemitic conspiracy theories have increasingly found space in parts of American politics.
Responding to the claims, White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales rejected suggestions of tolerance for antisemitism, saying, “There is no greater friend to Jewish Americans than the Trump Administration. Antisemitism has absolutely no place in the United States, and, under President Trump’s leadership, those who break the law and illegally discriminate against or inflict violence upon others will be held accountable,” said White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales.
US historian Christopher Browning, quoted in the report, linked the trend to broader ideological patterns, stating “Historically, when you mix conspiracy theory, racism, and authoritarianism, you almost always get to antisemitism,” Browning said in the report.
