By Joshua Arnold

Anti-Semitic attacks killed 20 Jews in four separate incidents in 2025, marking the deadliest year of anti-Semitism since 1994, according to an annual anti-Semitism report. Attacks on Jews have been elevated ever since October 7, 2023 and despite modest declines, the recent string of disturbing incidents suggests they aren’t going away.

The total number of anti-Semitic incidents remained similar to 2024, with moderate decreases from 2024 in some countries but increases in others. Notably, the document reported increases largely in the West, in such nations as the U.K., Australia, Italy, and Belgium. In France, the total number of incidents decreased, but the number of physical assaults increased.

“Across the globe, the number of antisemitic incidents remained dozens of percent higher than in the period before the war,” summarized the report, which is compiled annually by the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry and the Irwin Cotler Institute for Democracy, Human Rights and Justice, both located at Tel Aviv University.

American cities came for their own share of criticism. New York City recorded 324 anti-Jewish crimes, Chicago had 47, Washington, D.C. had 15, Denver had 13, Seattle had 12, Portland, Ore. had 12, San Francisco had 10, and Austin had nine. (As a city with a large population, Los Angeles would likely have made the list if it had actually reported its data.) For each of these cities, the number of incidents was slightly down from 2024 but still higher than 2022 (except for Seattle, which saw only five incidents in 2024 but 13 in 2023).

However, the most concerning statistic was the number of deaths. Fifteen Jews were killed in Australia’s Bondi Beach shooting, and two were killed in a synagogue attack in the U.K. The other two deadly incidents were in the United States. On May 21, 2025, two staffers at the Israeli Embassy were shot dead while leaving a reception at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. On June 1, 2025, an illegal immigrant from Egypt threw homemade firebombs at a group of elderly Jews as they participated in a weekly march to commemorate the hostages still in Hamas’s barbaric captivity. One of the group, an 82-year-old Holocaust survivor, later succumbed to the severe burns she sustained.

These incidents made 2025 the deadliest year of anti-Semitic terror attacks since 1994, when a Jewish community center in Argentina was bombed, resulting in 85 dead and 300 wounded. An Argentinian court faulted Iran and its terrorist proxy Hezbollah for the attack.

Sadly, this former incident reminds us that anti-Semitism is nothing new, and its malign influence must be periodically countered by extraordinary measures. Strangely, amid a culture that claims to side with the victims, the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust catalyzed a worldwide wave of anti-Semitic hatred that not only denies Jews the right to live in Israel but denies their right to live peaceably anywhere.

A recent string of incidents have even shown the growing influence of anti-Semitism of the Republican Party, although some parts of the Republican Party still have enough sense to clean house. The exposure of certain offensive chat groups resulted in anti-Semitic Republican operatives being expelled from positions of leadership.

This year, prominent staffers on the campaigns of two Republican candidates in the South Carolina primary for U.S. Senate were exposed for posting vile anti-Semitic content on social media. A staffer for Paul Dans had posted a video depicting Jews as cockroaches, while a staffer for Mark Lynch posted an image of a foot stomping on the Talmud, which he described as a “hate filled book towards Jesus Christ.”

After Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) drew attention to these revelations, both Dans and Lynch refused to fire the offending staffers. The Washington Stand drew attention to the controversy last week, and on Friday, President Trump weighed in with derogatory posts about both Dans and Lynch. Trump dismissed the candidates in his signature guilt-by-personal-vendetta style, alleging that Dans was endorsed by “a very Low IQ individual named Tucker Carlson,” while Lynch supported “perhaps the Worst Congressman in the History of our Country, Thomas Massie.” But, notably, Trump did not post anti-endorsements of Graham’s other four primary challengers; only the ones friendly with anti-Semitism were singled out for this treatment.

On Friday, Dans dropped out of the race and endorsed Lynch, hoping to consolidate the anti-Graham (or, more precisely, the anti-Semite) vote. “I did it because we cannot Make America Great Again until Lady Graham is taken out of office,” Dans sneered. “@MarkLynchSC has the resources to make that happen.”

It’s true that Lynch has resources. In 2025, he loaned his campaign more than $5 million, which makes a nice war chest to build from. However, besides his self-financing, Lynch only took in $369,000 in individual contributions in 2025, which doesn’t suggest that his message is catching on.

Thus, while anti-Semitism may be catching global momentum, it isn’t necessarily catching everywhere. It may be loud and have deep-pocketed supporters, which enables it to amplify its presence, especially in ways that cause Jews to take notice. But, because it is based on irrational hatred, it sometimes fails to persuade the vast majority of voters. This means — at least for now — anti-Semitism remains a problem, but a manageable one.

Joshua Arnold is a senior writer at The Washington Stand.

This piece originally appeared here.