Photo: Joe Mabel / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Kiever Synagogue in Toronto, November 9, 2023. Archive illustration, not Shaarei Torah or an attack scene. Resized and cropped.
JERUSALEM – Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism is warning that synagogues and Jewish worshippers face a growing danger of potentially lethal violence, even where false bomb threats and remote harassment have become less frequent.
The ministry’s report, released Thursday ahead of the 88th anniversary of Kristallnacht, argues that incident totals alone can conceal the seriousness of the physical threat, according to The Jerusalem Post’s account of its findings. Its concern extends beyond synagogue buildings to people traveling to prayer and gathering for communal life.
Fewer threats do not necessarily mean less danger
In the United States, bomb threats against synagogues fell from 1,009 in 2023 to 59 in 2025, the report says. Overall antisemitic incidents in the country declined 33% in 2025 to 6,274. But attacks involving lethal weapons rose to 32, compared with 23 in 2024.
The figure of 32 refers to attacks involving lethal weapons, not to a death toll. The ministry’s warning is about the potential for loss of life and the methods used, rather than a claim that every such attack caused a fatality.
The reported decline in the American incident total is also not evidence that antisemitism is falling worldwide. The ministry presents different national patterns and warns against treating fewer threats in one category as a broad improvement in the safety of Jewish communities.
Worshippers and repeatedly targeted communities
Britain recorded a record 227 synagogue-related incidents in 2025, according to the report as described by the Post. Fifty involved worshippers traveling to or from services, underscoring the risk beyond a building’s doors.
The report also points to repeat targeting. Toronto’s Shaarei Torah Jewish community experienced 10 incidents involving vandalism or arson during the period covered by the report. The Post’s account does not give a more precise date range for that series.
Among the methods identified are arson, Molotov cocktails, gunfire directed at synagogues and attempts to breach security perimeters with vehicles. Such attacks threaten worshippers, synagogue buildings and Torah scrolls, the report warns.
Suspected networks and a call for government protection
Alongside ideologically motivated lone attackers, the ministry identifies suspected involvement by terrorist networks and state actors, including Iran. The report describes investigations and assessments of incidents in Montreal, Toronto and Sydney examining whether local criminals were paid to carry out attacks and arson while concealing the involvement of those commissioning them.
That is the ministry report’s assessment of suspected networks. It should not be read as a court finding establishing Iranian responsibility for every incident discussed.
Avi Cohen-Skali, director-general of Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, urged governments and law enforcement agencies to strengthen protection for Jewish institutions, prevent attacks and bring those responsible to justice. The ministry said it would continue identifying threats, issuing warnings and passing information to the relevant authorities, according to the Post.
The warning comes before the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Nazi-organized anti-Jewish violence of November 9-10, 1938, when synagogues were burned and Jewish homes and businesses attacked, as documented by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This article draws the report’s contemporary findings from the Post’s coverage; JBizNews has not independently reviewed the full ministry report.
JBizNews Desk | Jerusalem
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