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More and more Americans feel our national unity is growing fragile.
Conspiracy theories and misinformation are eroding trust, stoking hate and tearing at the very fabric of our society, often with tragic consequences.
At the American Jewish Committee, we’re seeing those consequences up close — and our new report on “The State of Antisemitism in America,” out Tuesday, reveals how these divisions are affecting the Jewish community, and us all.
Every day, Jews across this country must consider wrenching questions of personal safety.
Should I wear my kippah today, or will that make me a target?
Can I hang a mezuzah on my door, or am I affixing a bullseye?
Is today the day someone throws a brick through the kosher supermarket’s window?
Will taking my kids to synagogue put them in a shooter’s crosshairs?
Yet when American Jews express such fears, and even when antisemitic violence occurs, the response from the broader public is often muted — based, it seems, in a sense of acceptance that anti-Jewish hatred is the norm.
Well-meaning leaders respond with increased security measures: armed guards at synagogues, police cruisers outside Hebrew schools, and SWAT teams on standby during the High Holy Days.
Yes, this protection is necessary — but fortifying against hate crimes cannot be confused with fortifying against hate.
For this year’s report, AJC commissioned two parallel polls from the independent research firm SSRS: one of a representative sample of 1,222 American Jews, the other of 1,033 US adults.
An overwhelming 91% of American Jews surveyed said three violent antisemitic incidents in 2025 — the Passover arson attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home, the Washington, DC murders of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, and the firebombing of a pro-Israel march in Boulder, Colo., that killed 82-year-old Karen Diamond — had made them feel less safe.
The poll was taken before 15 people were murdered at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney; before the only synagogue in Jackson, Miss., was firebombed.
According to AJC’s report, 86% of US Jews say antisemitism has increased since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel.
In the last 12 months, 73% of those surveyed had experienced antisemitism online, either by seeing or hearing it or by being personally targeted.
More than half said they’ve altered daily behaviors out of fear of antisemitism over the last year: students hide their stars of David; families skip synagogue.
Over the last five years, 17% of American Jews have considered leaving the country due to antisemitism.
Yet there’s a clear gap between what American Jews are experiencing and how the rest of the country sees the issue — or doesn’t see it.
Less than half of the US adults surveyed, 45%, reported personally seeing or hearing any antisemitic incidents in the last 12 months.
The question was posed broadly, to include negative remarks or online content, as well as physical attacks on Jews or their religious facilities.
Among Americans who know a Jewish person, only 54% said they had personally seen or heard one or more antisemitic incidents in the last year.
Among those who don’t know any Jews? 32%.
Little wonder Americans feel such a sense of division.
I am not advocating for special treatment for my community.
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I’m calling for, rather, the same care, awareness and collective outrage we would rightly see if these daily assaults were being made against members of any other religious or ethnic group in the United States.
No American should need a security perimeter to pray.
No American should be afraid to leave their home or visit a cultural center of their choosing.
A threat this severe against any community destroys the bonds of trust that make the United States possible, and leaves us all worse off.
That’s why the growing hatred against the 2% of America that is Jewish is a direct threat to our democracy.
When scapegoating and prejudice is tolerated or ignored, the guardrails protecting all minorities crumble.
The fortress of metal detectors and bulletproof glass we’ve built around the Jewish community is a physical sign of the deep cracks undermining the foundation of our society.
In a moment when the voices of animosity and hatred seem to be the loudest in the room, American Jews are wondering if this country can live up to the ideals on which it was founded 250 years ago.
This is a moment when together we all must ask: Are we willing to fight for our diverse and democratic America?
Ted Deutch is CEO at American Jewish Committee.