A comprehensive survey released Friday by the Combat Antisemitism Movement ahead of the United States' 250th anniversary celebrations paints a troubling picture of Jewish life in America, with 58 percent of respondents saying they feel less safe than they did a year ago and 57 percent reporting they personally experienced antisemitism over the past year.
The study, conducted by Dr. Ira Sheskin of the University of Miami and administered by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, surveyed 1,060 Jewish American adults and was commissioned by CAM's Antisemitism Research Center. The findings translate the 58 percent figure into roughly 3.6 million adults who now feel more vulnerable than they did twelve months ago, while the 57 percent who reported personally experiencing antisemitism represent close to 3.3 million Jewish adults, alongside an estimated 250,000 Jewish children living in households affected by it.
The survey found that fear has driven concrete changes in behavior. About 1.2 million Jewish adults, representing 23 percent of respondents, said they have deliberately skipped communal or religious events out of genuine concern for their safety.
Self censorship emerged as a defining theme of the findings. Thirty eight percent of those surveyed admitted to concealing visible Jewish items in public, 32 percent said they avoid posting identifying content on social media altogether, and the same 23 percent who avoid communal events said they do so specifically out of fear.
The data also showed that visibility itself has become a risk factor. Forty six percent of Orthodox Jews and 44 percent of those active in Jewish communal life reported personally experiencing antisemitism, compared with just 17 percent of Jews who are not involved in community life. In other words, the more openly a person lives as a Jew, the greater the risk of being targeted.
Physical violence and everyday harassment also featured prominently in the results. Eight percent of respondents, representing about 406,000 adults, said they had been the victim of physical threats or an actual violent attack because of their Jewish identity. Thirty six percent reported encountering antisemitic graffiti or vandalism in their immediate surroundings, and the same percentage said they had heard antisemitic comments or jokes from coworkers or neighbors.
The digital sphere was found to be similarly saturated with hostility, with 59 percent of respondents saying they had been exposed to explicit antisemitic content online and 10 percent saying that content was specifically directed and tagged at them personally. On a more encouraging note, 40 percent of respondents said they had received expressions of solidarity from non-Jewish acquaintances.
The survey also revealed broad consensus among American Jews around adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition of antisemitism. Seventy one percent of respondents said the IHRA definition most accurately describes antisemitism, and more than two thirds called on American institutions to formally adopt it. Only four percent expressed opposition.
Alizza D. Levin, CAM's US president, said the findings serve as a stark reminder that antisemitism remains a tangible daily reality for American Jews, and that the data amounts to an unambiguous mandate from the community for institutions across the country to adopt the IHRA definition immediately.
Aaron Keyak, CAM's special representative for international affairs and former deputy special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism for the US State Department, said the findings confirm what the community feels every day, describing antisemitism as a lethal threat requiring a serious systemic response. He characterized modern antisemitism as operating on a horseshoe model, in which the most extreme elements of the political left and right converge on the same hostility toward Jews, and called for the issue to be removed from partisan politics entirely.
The survey was released against the backdrop of a series of antisemitic incidents on college campuses and in cities across the United States in recent months, and comes as a wake up call for policymakers as well as academic and public institutions nationwide.
