An FBI 2018 Hate Crimes Report released on Nov. 12 found that anti-Semitic hate crimes overall decreased from 2017 to 2018, although they became more violent over the same timeframe.
According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, the number of anti-Semitic incidents declined from 938 in 2017 to 835 in 2018. Despite the decrease, Jews were still the most targeted religion in hate crimes in 2018, as nearly 60% of all religious hate crime incidents in 2018 were against Jews.
The Forward noted that violent anti-Semitic hate crimes saw an increase of more than 40% from 2017 to 2018, but anti-Semitic vandalism saw a decline of almost 20% over the same timeframe.
Hate crime incidents overall declined from 7,175 in 2017 to 7,120 in 2018, but violent crimes increased from 4,090 to 4,571 over the same timeframe, per the UK Guardian. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) pointed out in a Nov. 13 press release that there were 24 hate crime murders in 2018, which was “the highest since the FBI began tracking and reporting on hate crimes in 1991.”
California State University San Bernardino’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism Director Professor Brian Levin told the Forward, “I think we have a leaner, meaner type of hate crime going on.”
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement, “It is unacceptable that Jews and Jewish institutions continue to be at the center of religion-based hate crime attacks. We need to take concrete action to address and combat this significant problem.”
