A swastika graffitied in the basement of the University of Pennsylvania’s Stuart Weitzman School of Design on Sept. 14, 2023. Photo taken by student who wishes to remain anonymous and shared with Algemeiner by a university official.

Antisemitic hate crimes across the US skyrocketed last year by 36 percent compared to 2021, with the Jewish community only trailing African Americans as the most frequent victim of hate crimes, according to new data released by the FBI on Monday.

Across the US, a striking 1,124 antisemitic hate crimes were committed in 2022 — up from 824 in 2021 — a figure which included over 100 assaults, 358 incidents of intimidation, four abductions, and one sexual assault. The bureau identified White and Black Americans as offenders in 367 incidents, while the race of 377 offenders is unknown.

“Unfortunately, we know that even these record highs do not capture the full extent of hate crime incidents in the country,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement, alluding to the fact that many localities do not submit their hate crime data to the FBI. “At a time when the Jewish community is already reeling in the wake of a terrorist attack that constituted the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, the reality of this data is incredibly sobering. And yet, these numbers are not surprising. They are consistent with ADL’s own data and the trends we have been monitoring for years.”

Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, added in a separate statement, “Violence toward the Jewish community continues to escalate, and we sadly see surges in attacks against the Jewish community when Israel is under attack.”

Deutch also said that in the face of Hamas’s terror attacks on Jewish civilians in Israel, law enforcement agencies and government officials should “prioritize keeping the Jewish community safe” and follow through on implementing the White House National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, a first of its kind document, issued by the White House in May which contains best practices for fighting anti-Jewish discrimination.

The FBI’s findings came out about two weeks after the Palestinian terror group Hamas invaded Israel from Gaza and massacred about 1,400 Israelis, mostly civilians. Since then, there have been several reports showing a surge in antisemitic incidents across the US and Europe.

The Algemeiner covered several incidents of antisemitic hate crimes in 2022, ranging from an attack on Orthodox Jews with a BB gun to the vandalism of Hillel buildings on college campuses.

Other disturbing incidents occurred throughout the year. In November, an unidentified male accosted a University of Michigan student and made antisemitic comments. In December, several men, one armed with a taser, chased a group of Jewish boys in the Flatbush section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Weeks earlier, three yeshiva students were walking home in the Midwood section of Brooklyn when a gang of 11 students approached them, punched one of their group in the face, and hurled eggs at the others, according to eyewitness accounts. The gang ordered them to say “Free Palestine” during the attack.

Such an explosion of antisemitic incidents has had a pronounced effect on the American Jewish community. About 41 percent of American Jews last year reported believing that their status in the US was becoming less secure than the prior year and half said their plight received far less concern than other forms of discrimination, according to a survey conducted by the American Jewish Committee.

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.