NYPD: Antisemitic Hate Crimes Jump 214% in October

Hate crimes against Jewish people increased 214% in the month of October and since the start of Israel's war with the terrorist organization Hamas in Gaza, the New York City Police Department said Wednesday.

According to the monthly crime statistics released by the department, hate crimes against Jewish individuals increased by 214% in October, rising from 22 in 2022 to 69 in 2023 as Israel battles Hamas following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel that killed more than 1,400 and saw more than 240 Israelis and others kidnapped as hostages.

The increase also represents almost 70% of all hate crimes committed against all groups in the city, according to the report.

Of the 101 total number of hate crimes investigated, 69 were perpetrated on Jewish victims.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Oct. 31 that antisemitism in the United States is reaching "historic levels" in the wake of the war in the Middle East, the BBC reported at the time.

"This is a threat that is reaching, in some way, sort of historic levels," the BBC reported Wray telling the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. "The Jewish community is targeted by terrorists really across the spectrum. This is not a time for panic, but it is a time for vigilance. We shouldn't stop conducting our daily lives — going to schools, houses of worship, and so forth — but we should be vigilant."

Wray said that although Jewish people only represent 2.4% of the United States population, they account for 60% of all religion-based hate crimes.

The FBI's own 2022 crime statistics released Oct. 16 showed 1,124 antisemitic hate crimes in 2022, second only to 3,424 anti-Black hate crimes.

"Today, the FBI released their annual statistics on hate crimes," President Joe Biden said in a statement at the time. "Antisemitic hate crimes rose 25% from 2021 to 2022, and Antisemitism accounted for over half of all reported religion-based hate crimes. Anti-LGBTQI+ hate crimes rose 16%, and Muslim Americans and African Americans continue to be overrepresented among victims."

Globally, antisemitic hate crimes have dramatically risen since the recent conflict erupted, the American Jewish Committee reported.

Nevada Democrat Sen. Jacky Rosen joined four other Democrat Senators Oct. 19 to call for additional security funding to protect synagogues, Jewish community centers, mosques, and other religious-based venues that could be targeted for terrorist attacks.

"At a time when anti-Jewish hate crimes are reaching the highest levels in decades, we must take action to protect Americans from the threat of antisemitism," she said in a statement. "Increased funding for the life-saving Nonprofit Security Grant Program will help ensure synagogues, community centers, and other nonprofits have the resources needed to protect themselves from targeted violence."