The number of antisemitic incidents, including assaults and vandalism, spiked across the country in 2023, especially after Hamas militants attacked the Israeli territory of the Gaza Strip, according to the new report.
According to the latest report by the Anti-Defamation League, there were 8,873 antisemitic incidents in 2023, a 140% surge from 2022.
"2023 was not just a record setting year; it was a record shattering year," Jeffery Abrams with the ADL said. "This is a national emergency."
Among them, 1,266 such incidents were recorded in California while 295 of them happened in the Los Angeles area.
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The report also said there were a total of 161 antisemitic assaults, in which Jewish people or people perceived to be Jewish were targeted with physical violence with evidence suggesting prejudice.
One of them happened in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood of West LA on Feb. 15, 2023 with a man allegedly shooting and wounding a person who had just left a synagogue, the report said.
Federal authorities arrested and charged Jaime Tran, 28, with federal hate crimes for allegedly carrying out the attack.
The Jewish advocacy organization also highlighted incidents that it said were “sensitive and threatening to the Jewish community on campus.”
One of the on-campus incidents occurred at UCLA where an anti-Israel display included a sign that read, “Israel has managed to turn Jews into Nazis.”
