2025 deadliest year for antisemitic attacks outside Israel since 1994, report finds

A record year of violence

The J7 Large Communities' Task Force Against Antisemitism released its annual report on Wednesday, documenting more than 23,000 antisemitic incidents across seven countries in 2025. The figure represents a 136% increase from the 9,800 incidents recorded in 2022, the year before Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel. Violent incidents rose by 97% over the same period. The report covers Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, home to over 90% of the Jewish diaspora outside Israel. The task force described the situation as a "new normal" rather than a temporary surge.

Antisemitism in our seven countries is no longer a surge; it is our new normal.

The deadly attacks

Twenty people were murdered in antisemitic attacks in 2025, making it the deadliest year for the Jewish diaspora since the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people at a Jewish community centre. The worst single incident was a mass shooting at a Hanukkah festival near Sydney's Bondi Beach in December, where 15 people were killed. In October, an attack on a packed synagogue in Manchester during Yom Kippur left two dead. Two separate attacks in the United States, in Washington and Boulder, killed three people. The report noted that these four attacks alone pushed the death toll to a level not seen in over three decades.

Germany tops the list

Germany recorded the highest number of antisemitic incidents among the seven countries, both in absolute terms and per capita. The report counted 8,725 cases in 2025, nearly 70 incidents per 1,000 Jewish residents, a rate almost five times that of Australia. Right-wing extremism was responsible for 807 of those cases. While Australia experienced the sharpest rise, Germany's total was up only marginally from 8,713 in 2024, but more than triple the 2,610 recorded in 2022. The overall number of incidents across the seven countries dipped from 2024 to 2025, yet remained far above pre-October 7 levels.

Anti-Zionism as a driver

The report highlighted that anti-Zionism was a key motivating factor behind the rise in antisemitism, accounting for 48% of incidents in Britain and 45% in the United States. The task force linked the surge to the aftermath of the Gaza war, which began with Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. The 136% increase in total incidents from 2022 to 2025, and the 97% rise in violent incidents, reflect what the report called a lasting shift in the threat landscape for Jewish communities.

Call for preventive action

The J7 task force urged governments to move beyond reactive measures and invest in prevention. It called for real security funding, stronger legislation, and enforcement of existing rules by social media platforms. The statement stressed that waiting until after attacks occur is no longer sufficient.

Governments must stop reacting after Jews are attacked and start acting before, with real security funding, stronger laws and social media platforms that enforce their own rules.