Two-thirds of Jewish Americans feel less secure than before Oct. 7

[February 14, 2024]  By Kanishka Singh
 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - About two-thirds of Jewish Americans felt less secure in late 2023 than they did a year earlier, according to a survey mostly conducted after the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and released on Tuesday.  

The American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group, said the survey was based on telephone and online interviews from Oct. 5 to Nov. 21. The findings were compared to the same survey a year earlier.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

Rights advocates have noted a rise in antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias in the U.S. since Oct. 7 when Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel, sparking Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 28,000.

BY THE NUMBERS

About 63% of Jewish Americans said U.S. Jews were less secure than a year earlier. About 34% said security was the same as in 2022 and 3% felt U.S. Jews were more secure. The survey had 1,528 participants, Jews aged 18 or older, the group said.

KEY QUOTE

"If before October 7 antisemitism was a slow-burning fire, it has now become a five-alarm emergency that requires all of us to douse its flames," Ted Deutch, chief executive of the group, said.

CONTEXT

The U.S. government recently issued security guidance for faith-based communities.

The Education Department and lawmakers in Congress are probing allegations of antisemitism at elite universities that have led top leaders to resign at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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