A significant new survey from the Anti Defamation League (ADL) has revealed troubling attitudes toward Jews in the United States.
The ADL’s poll of 1,000 American adults found that 24%—nearly one in four—consider recent attacks on Jewish individuals in the U.S. “understandable,” while a similar number believes those incidents were “staged” to garner sympathy for Israel.
About 15% of respondents said that the violence was “necessary” and 13% said it was “justified.”
The disturbing data comes against a backdrop of escalating antisemitic violence nationwide, much of which has been tied to the aftermath of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
In recent months, two horrific antisemitic attacks in the U.S. made headlines: demonstrators at a peaceful pro-Israel march in Boulder, Colorado, were set on fire by an Egyptian man, and two Israeli embassy staffers were shot dead in Washington by a gunman who shouted “free Palestine.”
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt stated that it is “unacceptable that one quarter of Americans find this unspeakable violence understandable or justified,” describing it as “an alarming sign of how antisemitic narratives are accepted by the mainstream.”
According to the ADL, the number of antisemitic incidents in the United States hit a record 9,354 in 2024.
Academic environments, in particular, have become increasingly hostile as pro-Hamas students and activists stage regular anti-Israel protests.
A fall 2024 ADL–Hillel survey revealed that 83% of Jewish American college students experienced or witnessed antisemitic harassment or threats since October 7.
Among these students, 41% said they hid their Jewish identity on campus, 23% took extra personal security measures, and 66% lacked confidence in their institutions’ ability to address antisemitism.
Attacks and antisemitic incidents are becoming normalized or excused by some top U.S. universities. This has led U.S. President Donald Trump to target elite universities—including Harvard and Columbia—which he accuses of being hotbeds of antisemitism.
He has sought to control college curriculums and staffing as well as slash funding, while deporting foreign student activists associated with the pro-Hamas movement.
Jonathan Greenblatt said the ADL was grateful for Trump’s efforts to tackle antisemitism.
