New normal of antisemitic attacks hits Western world amid rising violence
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This year’s deadly anti-Semitic attacks in Washington DC, Colorado, UK, and Bondi Beach, Australia by Islamist-inspired perpetrators are not anomalies; they highlight the “new normal” seen in the Western world over the past two years.
Anti-Semitic violence across the West, particularly that perpetrated by Islamist or Islamist-friendly nefarious actors, has been consistently highlighted by academic think tanks, Jewish groups, and sympathetic voices since October 7, 2023 – but sufficient action has not been taken to protect Jewish lives and prevent such violence. As history shows, when Jews are targeted by extremists, it doesn’t take long for others to be targeted as well.
On October 7, 2023, the US-designated terrorist group Hamas launched an attack on Israel, murdering approximately 1,200 innocent victims and taking 251 hostages. It took 738 days for the last surviving hostages to be freed. One deceased Israeli hostage remains in Gaza to this day.
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FBI agents cordoned off the scene outside the Capital Jewish Museum following a shooting that left two people dead in Washington, DC, in the early hours of May 22, 2025. Two Israeli embassy staff members were identified among the two murdered people. (Photo by ALEX WROBLEWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Immediately after October 7, with the support of Iran, Islamists and their supporters around the world began their anti-Semitic diatribes against Israel, ultimately blaming the victim for the crime. Campus protests, street protests and social media campaigns have joined the cacophony of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic rhetoric that has encouraged violence against Israelis and Jews around the world.
The slogans “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “Globalize the Intifada” reappeared with vigor. The first chant was officially labeled anti-Semitic by the US House of Representatives. The second slogan is a call for “open hunting” against Israelis and Jews everywhere.
The daily news we read testifies to the fact that these songs resonate. Anti-Semitic violence continues to increase around the world; according to two Jewish organizations that monitor these statistics, from 2022 to 2024, anti-Semitic incidents increased by 340% worldwide.
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Police work at the scene after a terrorist attack that killed a woman and injured several people in Boulder, Colorado, United States, June 1, 2025. (Reuters | Fox News Digital)
Anti-Semitic rhetoric and violence are deeply damaging in themselves, but it is the tolerance and normalization of both phenomena by Western governments and societies that is most alarming. Islamists are not the only anti-Semites. Left-wing extremists and right-wing extremists are on opposite poles on almost every issue, but the common denominator between them is that they are both anti-Semitic. This is a recipe for disaster, because hatred of Jews unites haters of all types – and this wake-up call is currently lost on Western governments and societies.
What can we do to change this new normal? First, Western governments must hold social media providers accountable for vitriol or misinformation spread on their platforms. If left to its own devices, social media will continue to be an echo chamber of hatred that influences the hearts and minds of young and old.
The European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which came into force in November 2022, is a good example of a positive step taken to address this problem. The DSA requires companies such as X, Google, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok to step up the fight against illegal and harmful content on their platforms. This type of legislation is powerless without the ability to enforce it.
A police vehicle parked outside the Manchester Synagogue, where two people were killed on Yom Kippur in what police declared a terrorist incident, in north Manchester, Britain, October 5, 2025. (Hannah McKay/Reuters)
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Second, investigating threats (including via social media), protecting institutions and securing public events requires significant resources and tools for law enforcement, security and intelligence services. Western government leaders must increase their financial and human resources while ensuring that adequate training and technology are made available to those who protect vulnerable citizens.
New legislation may be needed to achieve this, and Western lawmakers should make it a priority.
Third, Western leaders must engage moderate Muslims, encourage them to condemn radical elements of their religion, and actively help prevent violence emanating from their communities. Between 1979 and 2024, nearly 67,000 Islamist terrorist attacks took place around the world. This violence will not end without the help of moderate Muslims: the Western world needs the Muslim majority to control its minority in order to protect not only Jews, but innocent people of all religions.
A member of the Jewish community reacts as he walks with police to the scene of a shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, December 14, 2025. (David Gray/AFP via Getty Images)
The fear of anti-Semitism is real for Jews around the world, and it currently feels like history is repeating itself. Islamist-inspired anti-Semitic hatred is like the fin we see swimming in the water around us. We all know that the fin represents danger and that danger lurks just below the surface.
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It is time for Western leaders not only to recognize the danger lurking nearby, but to confront it head on. Unless Western governments act quickly to confront this danger, what lies beneath the surface will come for everyone.
