Bicameral Statement of Bipartisan Task Forces for Combating Antisemitism on Release of 2023 FBI Hate Crime Statistics Report

Anti-Jewish Hate Crimes Increased By Nearly 63 Percent, Reaching Highest Level In Decades

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and James Lankford (R-OK), and Representatives Kathy Manning (NC-06) and Chris Smith (NJ-04), co-chairs of the Senate and House Bipartisan Task Forces for Combating Antisemitism, respectively, released the following statement in response to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) 2023 Hate Crime Statistics Report. The FBI data shows anti-Jewish hate crimes increased in 2023 by nearly 63 percent from 2022, which is the highest number recorded in almost three decades.

"We are deeply alarmed by the dramatic increase in hate crimes targeting Jewish Americans over the past year, as noted in the FBI's 2023 Hate Crimes Statistics Report," said the members. "With antisemitism skyrocketing across the United States following Hamas's October 7 terrorist attack on Israel, a whole-of-government approach is needed to protect Jewish communities from violence and hate."

Anti-Jewish hate crimes rose from 1,122 to 1,832 incidents from 2022 to 2023. According to the FBI, a total of 16,009 law enforcement agencies, which represent 95.2 percent of the agencies enrolled in the hate crime data collection program, participated in hate crimes reporting for 2023.

They continued: "As the co-chairs of the House and Senate Bipartisan Task Forces for Combating Antisemitism, we remain steadfast in our commitment to root out the scourge of antisemitism. We'll continue working across party lines to ensure the federal government keeps Jewish Americans safe from discrimination."

Jewish Americans make up around two percent of the U.S. population, yet antisemitic hate crimes accounted for 15.4 percent of all hate crimes reported by the FBI. Anti-Jewish incidents comprised a little over two-thirds of all religion-based hate crimes.

As co-chair of the Senate Bipartisan Taskforce for Countering Antisemitism, Senator Rosen has been leading the fight against rising antisemitism. Senator Rosen, along with the co-chairs of the Senate and House Bipartisan Task Forces, introduced a bipartisan bill to take historic action to counter antisemitism in the United States by establishing a first-ever National Coordinator to Counter Antisemitism. In May, Senators Rosen and Lankford sent a bipartisan letter urging the Department of Education to designate a senior official to oversee efforts to combat antisemitism on college campuses. They also called on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee to hold a full hearing on rising antisemitism on college campuses.

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