Jews face harassment in nearly 100 countries as global religious hostilities spike, Pew shows

Jews experienced government harassment in 69 countries and private harassment in 92 countries during 2023, according to new research from the Pew Research Center. The study, which examines social hostilities involving religion, found that 55 countries had high or very high levels of such hostilities, an increase from 45 countries in 2022.

The research rates countries on two scales: the Government Restrictions Index (GRI), measuring government actions impacting religious freedom, and the Social Hostilities Index (SHI), which tracks harassment and violence by private actors targeting religious communities. China, Iran, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Syria, and Uzbekistan recorded the highest GRI scores. Israel, Nigeria, India, and Syria were noted for having the highest SHI scores.

Spain and Norway saw their SHI scores rise to high levels, partly due to increased harassment of Muslims and Jews following the Oct. 7 attacks. Pew highlighted that Israel's SHI score increased significantly due to the Hamas attack, citing the organization's charter and religious objectives. Globally, the number of countries where religious groups faced harassment increased to 192 out of 198, up from 152 in 2007. Jews, representing less than 1% of the world's population, were harassed in 98 countries, an increase from 90 in the previous year, with antisemitic statements on social media contributing to this rise after the Oct. 7 attacks.