Findings

Congress finds the following: (1) Antisemitism, which is often called the oldest hatred, is a serious and growing danger for the Jewish community in the United States and around the world. (2) Antisemitism has unique characteristics, including the evolving use of conspiracy theories that blame the various ills of society on Jewish people or attribute to Jewish individuals a variety of evil and harmful characteristics, as well as the portrayal of Jewish people as too powerful or controlling and deserving of hatred and mistrust. (3) Antisemitism also exists when Jewish individuals are held responsible for the policies of the Israeli government, or attacked, disparaged, or demonized based on their real or perceived connection to, affiliation with, or support for, the State of Israel as a Jewish state. (4) Holocaust denial and distortion, including intentional efforts to excuse or minimize the impact of the Holocaust and dishonor Holocaust victims and survivors, reinforce the need for advancing accurate and comprehensive Holocaust education globally. (5) Protecting the history of the Holocaust and recognizing and confronting Holocaust denial and distortion are critical to preventing antisemitism. (6) As stated in the American Jewish Committee’s report entitled State of Antisemitism in America 2025, the Committee found that 31 percent of American Jews reported being the personal target of antisemitism at least once over the preceding year. (7) In 2024, the Federal Bureau of Investigation identified the highest number of anti-Jewish hate crime incidents ever recorded by the Bureau since it began collecting data in 1991, which number represented an annual increase of 5.8 percent in those incidents. (8) Although Jews only make up around 2 percent of the United States population, reported single-bias anti-Jewish hate crimes comprised 16 percent of all reported hate crimes and nearly 70 percent of all reported religion-based hate crimes in 2024, which percentages reflect increases from prior years. (9) In 2024, the Anti-Defamation League (referred to in this paragraph as the ADL) reported 9,534 antisemitic incidents in the United States, including physical assault, vandalism, and harassment, which is a 344 percent increase over the average number of such incidents during the prior 5 years and an 893 percent increase over the average number of such incidents during the prior 10 years. The 2024 number of antisemitic incidents is the highest number on record since the ADL began tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979. (10) Jewish Americans have faced an unprecedented rise in antisemitic incidents following the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel. (11) Increasing antisemitism in the digital universe marked by the amplification of antisemitic harassment, comments, tropes, and violent conspiracies on online platforms, often can lead to increased security risks and additional offline acts of harassment, assault, and vandalism. (12) On April 13, 2025, on the second day of Passover, an individual set multiple fires at the Pennsylvania Governor’s residence in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, while Governor Josh Shapiro and his family were inside, with the attacker stating that he was upset by the Governor’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war. (13) On May 21, 2025, a gunman shot and killed 2 Embassy of Israel staff members, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, as the staff members were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum, in Washington, DC. (14) On June 1, 2025, a man used a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to attack a group in Boulder, Colorado, as the group gathered to express solidarity for hostages being held by Hamas, which injured at least 13 people and resulted in the death of 82-year-old Karen Diamond, a Holocaust survivor. (15) On January 10, 2026, an attacker set fire to the historic Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Mississippi, saying he was animated by its Jewish ties. (16) On March 12, 2026, an individual drove a vehicle containing explosives into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, targeting a synagogue and preschool filled with more than 100 children and staff. (17) Antisemitic incidents have increased dramatically in many educational settings over the past several years, with many Jewish students facing discrimination or a hostile environment at schools, yet antisemitic incidents in schools remain underreported. (18) The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is tasked with ensuring that all students' civil rights are protected on campus, yet there is a backlog of discrimination complaints that remain pending before the Office for Civil Rights. (19) On December 11, 2019, President Trump signed Executive Order 13899 (20 U.S.C. 2000d note; relating to combating anti-Semitism) which instructed all executive departments and agencies charged with enforcing title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to consider the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Antisemitism and its 11 contemporary examples of antisemitism. (20) On May 25, 2023, the Biden Administration issued the first-ever U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, which outlined a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to tackle antisemitism and included more than 100 actions for Federal agencies to take and calls to action for Congress. (21) On January 30, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14188 (90 Fed. Reg. 8847; relating to additional measures to combat antisemitism), to combat the surge of antisemitism on college campuses and in communities in the United States. (22) While antisemitism most directly and intensely threatens those who identify or are perceived as Jewish Americans, it also undermines democracy and threatens the safety and rights of all Americans.