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Israel and Hamas are at war again, and Jews in the U.S. are feeling the repercussions as officials confirm an uptick in hate crimes throughout the country as a direct result.
The 11-day war has claimed the lives of more than 250 Palestinians and a dozen Israelis. That number includes 66 children, 39 women and 17 people over 60 years old. Eighty militants have been killed over an 11-day timeframe.
Both sides are amid a ceasefire since May 10.
The conflict has stoked a wave of anti-Semitic attacks in the U.S after 193 reports were made of antisemitic violence, an increase from 131 a week prior.
The Anti-Defamation League counted nearly 200 reports of possible anti-Semitic violence during the first seven days of the fighting and discovered approximately 17,000 tweets saying that "Hitler was right" between May 7 and 14.
"I am deeply concerned about the recent spate of violent anti-Semitic attacks across the U.S. and around the world," U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Houston) said on Twitter. "Public officials must condemn attacks against the Jewish community, just as they condemn other forms of prejudice and racism. These vile attacks must end."
Though a ceasefire is in place, several notable Jewish organizations in the U.S. warn that the fallout could last a very long time.
"We are witnessing a dangerous and drastic surge in anti-Jewish hate," Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement last week just ahead of the cease-fire announced between Israel and Hamas. "To those who choose to indulge in age-old anti-Semitic tropes, exaggerated claims and inflammatory rhetoric, it has consequences: Attacks in real life on real people targeted for no other reason than they are Jewish. This is anti-Semitism, plain and simple. And it's indisputably inexcusable in any context."
President Joe Biden denounced the uptick in hate crimes in a recent Twitter post.
"The recent attacks on the Jewish community are despicable, and they must stop," Biden said. "I condemn this hateful behavior at home and abroad — it’s up to all of us to give hate no safe harbor."