ADL: There were 249 anti-Semitic attacks by extremists in 2018
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ADL: There were 249 anti-Semitic attacks by extremists in 2018

All of the perpetrators were white supremacists

By Laura E. Adkins / JTA April 30, 2019, 5:16 pm Edit
Right wing extremists were responsible for 44 percent of non-Anti-Semitic hate, extremism and terrorism in 2018. They were responsible for all anti-Semitic extremist incidents.
Right wing extremists were responsible for 44 percent of non-Anti-Semitic hate, extremism and terrorism in 2018. They were responsible for all anti-Semitic extremist incidents.

The Anti-Defamation League found that 1,879 anti-Semitic acts – including assault, vandalism and harassment  – and 3,044 total incidents of hate, extremism, anti-Semitism and terror were committed in the United States in 2018.

Right-wing individuals were responsible for 1,328 of the non-anti-Semitic extremist incidents – nearly 44 percent. Left-wing individuals were responsible for none of 2018’s incidents, and Islamist individuals were responsible for four, according to the organization’s data.

In 2018, 249 acts of anti-Semitism (13 percent of the total anti-Semitic incidents) were attributable to known extremist groups or individuals inspired by extremist ideology. In a call, Oren Segal, director of the ADL Center on Extremism, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that all 249 of these extremist incidents were attributable to white supremacists.

“Neither side of the political spectrum is exempt from intolerance. The idea that this is a problem with only one side is wrong,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt told JTA during a conference call. However, he added that “white supremacy is a global terror threat.”

Examining the ADL’s data going back to 2002, JTA found that 2,633 – approximately 34 percent – of the 7,686 reported non-Semitic and extremist incidents have been attributed to perpetrators with right-wing ideology, compared to 137 attributed to Islamists or those with a left-wing ideology.

As for the remainder, Segal told JTA on the conference call that “most anti-Semitic incidents are carried out by average Joes and average Janes,” not by those affiliated with extremist groups.

However, Greenblatt noted that many of the incidents the ADL reports come in from regional ADL offices, so researchers aren’t always certain of what other affiliations perpetrators might have.

“We don’t know if there might be more [extremist perpetrators] out there,” he said.

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