The launch comes just two months after the conflict between Israel and Hamas in May, which subsequently brought a flood of antisemitic attacks and negative stereotypes about Jews to the US. The ADL tracked a doubling of antisemitic incidents compared to the same period in 2020, reporting 251 incidents from May 11 through the end of the month, an increase of 115%. ADL CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt said it is not enough to just acknowledge the burst of antisemitic incidents. "We know that without complete and accurate data we do not have a full picture of the problem,” he said. “Through this partnership, we hope to encourage more reporting to help raise awareness of the threats facing the Jewish community, and to leverage our combined resources to convince policymakers of the need to devote more resources to combating extremism while ensuring the safety and security of our communities.”URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs noted that the rise of antisemitism is not isolated to a specific community.
“The Reform Movement and ADL have long been partners in addressing and working against antisemitism, racism and other acts of injustice," he said. "This critical collaboration will further integrate that work. It could not come at a more pressing moment with rising vandalism and violent threats on congregations, assaults on Jewish individuals, and an increase in antisemitic rhetoric and conspiracy theories from all sides. Our community knows all too well that when hatred against one group is allowed to fester, bigotry imperils us all." In January 2020, during another spike of antisemitic incidents, the ADL launched an online tracker to provide a compiled and updated list of antisemitic incidents in the US. The tracker allows users to have access to the most recent information available on acts of hate against Jews, including vandalism, harassment and assault, and offers the ability to filter incidents by geographic location and search with key words.