New Jersey Had Third Highest Antisemitic Incidents in U.S.

A new report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) found that antisemitism has increased in almost all 50 states, with New Jersey ranked third with 408 reported incidences of discrimination against Jews.

While New York has the dubious distinction of being ranked number one, with 580 reported incidences of bias, it is followed by California at 518 and then New Jersey, Combined with Florida (269) and Texas (211), these five states account for 54% of the total number of antisemitic incidences in the U.S.

The report didn’t go unnoticed by Rep. Josh Gottheimer, the only Jewish member of the New Jersey Congressional Delegation. The 48-year-old lawmaker representing the 5th congressional district released a statement acknowledging the upsurge in antisemitic behavior against Jewish residence within the Garden State, the highest ever recorded in the state.

Rise in Hate

“The continued, despicable surge in anti-Semitism across New Jersey and our country should sound an alarm for every single American,” said Gottheimer. “The magnitude of the crisis we are facing calls for concerted action, at every level, to ensure that there truly is no place for hate in our state, in our local communities, or anywhere in our nation.”

ADL concluded that the dramatic increase in 2022 regarding antisemitic incidents cannot be attributed to any one particular situation or cause, but rather a multitude of different occurrences taking place within a certain time frame. For example, the significant upsurge (102% increase), in White Supremacist propaganda resulted in 852 additional incidences. Middle K-12 schools had a 49% increase in biased cases, along with colleges and universities reporting a 41% uptick (219 occurrences).

HIgh Profile Cases in New Jersey

The authors and North Jersey leaders noted the Garden State in particular has seen a disturbing and growing trend of anti-Semitism throughout the state.

The most high profile incident in the state last year was an 18-year old from Middlesex County charged with publicly threatening to attack Jewish individuals along with synagogues in November. The threat prompted the FBI within the Garden State to issue a rare warning across the state of an imminent attack against a synagogue and other high profile Jewish targets.

Attacks on Orthodox Jews increased by 69%, resulting in 59 new incidences, along with a surge of bomb threats directed towards Jewish institutions. In April 2022, an individual committed a series of violent assaults against four Orthodox Jewish individuals in Lakewood. The crime spree lasted several hours, causing serious injuries to those individuals.

Synagogues Targeted

After a rash of threats against Jewish institutions, especially within houses of worship, synagogues within the Garden State in 2017 began fortifying their physical infrastructure with shatterproof windows, security cameras and personnel, acknowledged Bob Wilson, chief security officer for the Jewish Federation of Greater Metro West NJ.

In its national report, ADL identified 3,697 confirmed antisemitic incidents taking place throughout in 2022, compared to 2,717 in 2021—a 36% increase. ADL officials said that was the highest number ever recorded since ADL began tracking anti-Semitic discrimination back in 1979.

“The findings that antisemitic incidents in America have exploded over one-third in just a year should chill the spine and soul of every single American,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell after the release of the report. “Last year saw 10 anti-Jewish bias incidents every single day in this country. There can be no mistaking it and no sugarcoating it: antisemitism continues to metastasize in our nation. Anti-Jewish hate is a plague on humanity and it impacts all of us. ”

North Jersey Concerns

In 2022, New Jersey Jewish institutions such as synagogues, Jewish community centers and Jewish schools experienced a 12% increase in harassment incidents from the previous year.

The survey concluded out of the 589 cases reported, 86 was for vandalism against Jewish property and nine for assaults against Jewish individuals. Additionally, the report cited 91 bomb threats made towards Jewish institutions, the highest since 2017.

“We are alarmed by the dramatic increase in antisemitic incidents in New Jersey, disturbing fact emblematic of a larger national problem,” said Scott Richman, Regional Director of ADL’s New York/New Jersey office serving Northern and Central New Jersey. “Jewish communities in New Jersey are dealing with record levels of antisemitism, and ADL is working closely with victims, schools, law enforcement, elected officials, and faith and community leaders to help reverse this trend.”

Gottheimer added that “as we’ve seen in incident after incident, the very safety and security of our communities hangs in the balance. However, here in the greatest country in the world, I believe religious freedom will win and anti-Semitism and hate will lose.”