Campus antisemitism really was that bad, and it peaked in 2024, ADL says

The number of antisemitic incidents in the United States tallied by the Anti-Defamation League declined sharply in 2025 — the first drop in five years — due in part to what the ADL said was a dramatic decrease of incidents on college campuses. The ADL tallied 1,694 antisemitic incidents on U.S. college campuses in 2024, after pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist student protests proliferated due mostly to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. That figure fell by 66% in 2025, to 583, as many colleges and universities — under pressure from President Donald Trump’s administration — took steps to curb such protests. With the drop in on-campus incidents a major factor, the ADL’s latest annual audit — released Wednesday — says there were 6,274 incidents of antisemitic assaults, harassment and vandalism overall in 2025. That’s down 33% from the record-high 9,354 incidents counted for 2024. The states with the most antisemitic incidents in 2025 were New York (1,160), California (817) and New Jersey (687), the ADL says. The ADL’s methodology in tallying such incidents has added grist to an intense and divisive debate among American Jews and others over the extent to which vehement criticism of Israeli policies and of Zionism should be considered antisemitic. Some critics say the ADL’s criteria is too broad. 2025 incidents included 3 killings, record number of assaults Despite the decrease in total incidents, the ADL’s national director and CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, said 2025 “was one of the most violent years for American Jews,” with a record-high 203 incidents of physical assault tallied in the audit. “Numbers that would have shocked us five years ago are now our floor,” Greenblatt said. “People are being murdered because of antisemitism on American soil, and thousands more are threatened.” Greenblatt was referring to the two Jewish people killed in a May 21 shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., and the 82-year-old Jewish woman who died from injuries sustained