In the past year, antisemitism has claimed the lives of 20 Jews, with approximately 1,000 antisemitic incidents recorded worldwide, the Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry revealed on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The ministry’s report shows a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents following geopolitical developments, including harassment, significant security incidents, physical assaults, vandalism, arson targeting Jewish property, and deadly attacks against individuals and institutions.
During the reporting period, over 300 incidents were recorded in the United States, and over 130 incidents each in the United Kingdom and France. There were dozens of physical assaults and hundreds of vandalism cases globally, and, as mentioned, 20 Jews were killed in antisemitic attacks. 15 of these deaths were during the massacre at a Chabad Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach, Australia, in December 2025.
In total, 958 antisemitic incidents were recorded across 72 countries, averaging more than 74 incidents per month. In April 2025 alone, 118 incidents were recorded.
More than 70% of incidents occurred in Western countries with large Jewish communities. The ministry also highlighted particularly high levels of antisemitism in regions with Muslim and Palestinian populations.
Social media is also a key arena where the ministry expects antisemitism to surge. The ministry wrote that platforms such as X and Facebook serve as central arenas for explicit rhetoric, while video platforms present more concealed content through visual language and edited narratives.
Additionally, it stated that algorithms and a lack of effective enforcement enable disinformation, war imagery, fabricated claims, and misleading texts, all of which will continue to spread rapidly and become perceived as “truth” with “moral certainty.”
The report also pointed to a direct link between the rise of such content and increases in harassment, copycat behavior, and the normalization of conspiracy theories.
Antisemitism levels likely to remain high
Looking ahead to the rest of 2026, the ministry predicts that antisemitism levels will remain high, and that online radicalization will continue fueling real-world violence. It also predicts increased cooperation between extremist groups and state actors (e.g., Iran).
“What begins as incitement online continues directly into attacks against Jewish communities,” said Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister, Amichai Chikli.
Chikli stressed that governments that do not act decisively against antisemitic organizations and instigators will face “far more severe incidents in the future.”
“Governments must uproot antisemitism, adopt policies to combat it, and invest in enforcement, legislation, and education,” echoed the ministry’s Director-General Avi Cohen-Scali. He said that Holocaust Remembrance Day reminds us not only of what happened, “but what can happen if hatred is not stopped in time.”
“Israel will act with all available tools to protect Jews everywhere in the world,” he concluded.