Law enforcement vehicles are seen outside Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. Photo: Reuters/Shelby Tauber

More than a quarter of American Jews were personally confronted with antisemitic behavior in 2022, with a full 41 percent of the community admitting they feel less secure now compared with a year ago, according to a new survey published on Monday by the American Jewish Committee (AJC).

The “State of Antisemitism Report 2022” was based on a survey conducted in the fall of 2022, amid a year that began with a hostage standoff at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas and ended with the furor around the violently antisemitic outbursts of hip hop mogul Kanye West.

“Over four in ten (41 percent) of American Jews feel their status is less secure than it was a year ago,” the report noted. The number represented a 10 point  increase on the response in 2021. Respondents said that their “sense of security has eroded, primarily due in large part to the rise in antisemitic attacks, crimes, and violence; and how acceptable antisemitism and racism have become,” the report observed.

Twenty six percent of respondents said they were directly targeted by antisemitic expressions, either in person or on social media, with 3 percent reporting a physical attack. Nearly four in 10 changed their behavior to lower risks to their safety.

Similarly, nearly four in ten reported avoiding visible expressions of Jewishness in public, such as wearing a kippah. Smaller percentages reported taking similar steps on campus or at work.

In addition, almost two-thirds of American Jews (67 percent) said they had seen antisemitism online or on social media in the past year.

An overwhelming 84 percent of Jewish adults under age 30 said they have seen this hateful content in the past year. “Taken together with those who were personally targeted, fully 85 percent of young American Jews – those ages 18 to 29 – were the target of antisemitism online or have seen it online at least once in the past 12 months,” the report said.

The survey revealed that a clear majority of Americans have heard the term “antisemitism” and know what it means. “Nearly seven in 10 U.S. adults (69 percent) say they have heard the term antisemitism and know what it means, while 22 percent have heard the term but are unsure of its meaning,” the report stated.

“One best practice in fighting antisemitism is when leaders of other communities do the speaking. People are more likely to listen to those they know, those they trust, and those who are like them,” Holly Huffnagle, AJC’s U.S. Director of Combating Antisemitism, said in a statement accompanying the report. “This is why we need white evangelical leaders to disavow white supremacy and antisemitic conspiracy theories like QAnon. We need Black leaders to condemn Louis Farrakhan’s antisemitism. We need Muslim leaders to condemn antisemitism or antisemitic tropes when they appear in their own communities and Latino leaders to speak out against antisemitism in their communities.”