By: Kenneth L. MarcusPublished in eJewishPhilanthropy on January 25, 2026 While data published at the close of 2025 suggested that the surge in antisemitism around the world over the past two years has “leveled off,” recent events tell a different story. Vandalism of a Jewish temple’s property in Los Angeles and a New York City library hosting a Jewish exhibit, 50 swastikas defacing a playground, the assault of a Brooklyn father with his young family by a man yelling “I’m gonna kill you Jews” and synagogues being protested and set on fire remind us yet again that the threat to the Jewish community remains active. Alarmingly, a whopping 25% of the U.S. population has consistently held antisemitic attitudes over the past year, and Jewish allies have dropped by nearly 40%. Coupled with weakening public resolve to push back against Jew-hatred, this is why even an apparent post-Gaza ceasefire “plateau” in antisemitism should not fool us: the Jewish community is still very much under threat. Over the past two decades, antisemitism has shown a steady upward trajectory, despite occasional dips. A plateau at historically high levels is not stability. It is normalization. And it’s even worse than we think. The Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee found that between 74% and 78% of Jews who experienced antisemitism chose not to report it. If we go by the numbers in those reports, that means there were approximately 150,000 unreported antisemitic incidents in 2024. Beyond the violence and harassment on college campuses over the past two years — some of the most recognizable displays of antisemitism — antisemitism has seeped into workplaces, government, culture and civic society. Jewish professionals at major companies have been denied professional benefits and advantages. In unions, Jewish members have to fight to ensure that they and their work environment are protected from antisemitic harassment and hate speech. In Hollywood, hundreds of film workers signed a pledge to boycott Israeli film institutions, a clear act of discrimination. Antisemitism has even seeped into science and the medical fields; according to a December 2024 survey, 75% of Jewish medical professionals have experienced antisemitism at work. And this threat is not confined to any one political faction. Antisemitism on the left has primarily been associated with protests, violence and extremist rhetoric that have been raging on college campuses for the past three years and have now migrated to outside our synagogues. But the resurgence of extremist voices on the far right, such as Nick Fuentes and those who have platformed him, shows how Jew-hatred festers across the ideological spectrum. The good news is that a new wave of accountability has emerged as a result of continued pressure to address antisemitic violence and discrimination. Over the past few months, the Brandeis Center has won major settlements with Pomona College, University of California, Berkeley, Nysmith School and the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys. Taken together, these settlements mark a turning point. They are no longer isolated resolutions, but a developing compliance framework to help prevent future incidents of antisemitic violence and discrimination. Agreements are often predicated upon the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, appointment of a Title VI coordinator to address issues related to discrimination or harassment, addition of a reporting mechanism on the institution’s website and antisemitism training for administrators and staff. These measures provide a roadmap that other institutions can follow before litigation forces the issue. But this moment calls for more than awareness. It calls for informed assertion of rights, specifically under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans discrimination based on race, color and national origin. For example, under Title VI of that act, federally assisted colleges and K-12 schools are required to take prompt and effective action upon notice of harassment that has created a hostile environment for students based on these categories. When schools fail to respond, families and students can escalate by filing a Title VI complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, a process that increasingly leads not just to investigations, but to negotiated resolutions with concrete compliance obligations. Institutions are no longer free to plead confusion about what immediate or effective action entails. Another example: Under Title VII of the same act, it’s unlawful for a private employer with at least fifteen employees to fail, refuse to hire, discharge or discriminate against any individual because of their race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Employers also cannot limit, segregate or classify their employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive any individual of employment opportunities or adversely affect their status as an employee for those same reasons. In workplaces and unions, employees can similarly seek federal enforcement through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, where a charge of discrimination can trigger mediation, findings or litigation, often prompting institutions to act before matters reach court. Employees should expect and demand clear policies, prompt investigations and documented remedies. And where necessary, victims can take their violations to the courts. Reporting is a critical step to ensuring accountability. Documentation has become one of the most powerful tools available to victims and advocates. Whether it’s taking a video to a school’s anti-discrimination office or submitting an incident report to the Brandeis Center or the Campus Antisemitism Legal Line (CALL), use whatever tools are available to ensure that there is a record of the harassment. At this point, schools, unions, workplaces, corporations, medical practitioners and associations should not expect to be asked whether they oppose antisemitism, but whether they have adopted the safeguards that now appear in settlement after settlement. And if they haven’t, why not? It is no longer acceptable to ignore the problem. At the Brandeis Center, requests for our help have increased more than tenfold since Oct. 7, 2023. Our legal team — now several times larger than we were just two years ago — includes former prosecutors, high-level officials, top partners from major law firms and leading experts in constitutional and civil rights law. With three offices nationwide and the new Center for Legal Innovation, we’re ensuring antisemitism is met with the full force of the law. The infrastructure for enforcement now exists; the remaining question is whether institutions will act proactively, or wait to be compelled. But enforcement is not enough on its own. Societal vigilance must also be rebuilt. A lull in incidents will not mean the threat has passed. The world’s oldest hate doesn’t end. It recedes, and only when confronted systematically and persistently. We cannot let our guard down. Again, a high plateau is not a sign of safety — it is a warning. Know your rights under the law. Report incidents, demand institutions meet established standards and hold them accountable. Civil rights advances rarely come from goodwill alone. They come when law, precedent and public insistence converge. Progress will only come if we remain steadfast in demanding that Jewish safety and equality are nonnegotiable.