Antisemitism reaching ‘historic levels’ in US: FBI Director Wray

Antisemitism is reaching “historic levels” in the United States following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, FBI Director Christopher Wray told senators Tuesday. 

“This is a threat that is reaching, in some way, sort of historic levels, in part because, as you know all too well, the Jewish community is targeted by terrorists really across the spectrum,” Wray told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

The FBI director noted that the bureau’s statistics show that Jewish Americans are disproportionately the victims of hate crimes, including in the majority of religious-based attacks. 

“In fact, our statistics would indicate that for a group that represents only about 2.4% of the American public, they account for something like 60% of all religious-based hate crimes,” Wray said. 

The FBI director added that the bureau is “doing our best to be proactive” in combating antisemitism, through the use of its Joint Terrorism Task Forces, hate crime investigations and intelligence sharing.

“This is not a time for panic, but it is a time for vigilance,” Wray said. “We shouldn’t stop conducting our daily lives — going to schools, houses of worship, and so forth — but we should be vigilant.”

“You often hear the expression if you see something, say something — that’s never been more true than now,” he added.

“And that’s probably partly why the American people are reporting more tips and leads to us, and we’re pursuing those threats and leads as vigorously and responsibly as we can.”

The Biden administration unveiled a series of actions Monday meant to combat rising antisemitism at colleges and universities following a series of anti-Israel demonstrations.

Under the plan, the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security are partnering with campus and local police to track hate-related rhetoric online and provide federal resources to schools — and the Education Department will host webinars on how to file reports.

The measures come after Cornell University was placed on high alert after threats to rape and kill Jewish students were posted on a public online forum. The threats were uncovered days after “F—k Israel” graffiti appeared on campus sidewalks.

A person of interest has been identified by authorities and is being questioned, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday.