The Many Faces of Antisemitic Terrorism in the United States

This commentary was originally published in a Blue Blaze Substack post on May 24, 2026.

In May 2026, the Department of Justice announced the arrest of a leader of Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi group with close ties to Iran. The U.S. government claims that the man, Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, planned to target synagogues and Jewish centers in Arizona, Los Angeles, and New York. Prosecutors tied al-Saadi to a number of arson attacks on Jewish targets in Europe, claiming he “coordinated a wave of attacks across Europe, including bombings, arson, and assaults targeting American communities and interests.” And he was recently accused of planning to assassinate Ivanka Trump to avenge Donald Trump’s killing of Qassem Soleimani in 2020.

Although the involvement of a state like Iran sets these plots apart, anti-Jewish violence is otherwise on the rise. The Anti-Defamation League reports that physical attacks on Jews have reached the highest level since 1979.

When looking at anti-Jewish violence, what is notable is the variety of ideologies and actors that, in perhaps their only moment of unity, target Jews. Neo-Nazis, anti-Israel extremists, jihadists, far-left extremists, and state sponsors like Iran all arrive at anti-Jewish violence through different ideological pathways but often with the same practical effect.

Neo-Nazis have long seen Jews as enemy number one. Robert Bowers, a neo-Nazi who perpetrated the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history when he killed 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, saw Jews as behind a plot to flood America with refugees among other evils. Recent months have seen individuals with similar mindsets plot attacks. Skyler Rose posted antisemitic threats on X, declaring he wanted to blow up a synagogue, among other plots: After searching his home, authorities found six completed pipe bombs and an assault rifle.

The latest round of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict sparked by the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack has led to attacks on Jewish targets based on their association with Israel. This led to the deadliest terrorist attack in Australia’s history, with a father and son killing 15 people at Bondi Beach on December 14, 2025.

In the United States, the renewal of this conflict has led to a spate of attacks. In June 2025, Mohamed Sabry Soliman yelled “Free Palestine” as he attacked—with an improvised flamethrower and Molotov cocktails—a “Run for Their Lives” event to support Israeli hostages, injuring more than a dozen and killing one person. In March 2026, Ayman Ghazali crashed his truck into a Detroit-area synagogue and began shooting, fortunately killing no one before he turned his gun on himself. Ghazali had lost relatives in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon and, inspired by Hezbollah, sought revenge.

More traditional jihadists like those tied to ISIS have long targeted Jewish and Israeli targets, often seeing them as interchangeable. In September 2024, Canadian authorities, working with their U.S. counterparts, arrested Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, a Pakistani national who planned to cross into the United States to conduct a mass shooting on behalf of ISIS against Jewish targets in New York.

Left-wing terrorism is also rising in the United States. Although not inherently antisemitic like neo-Nazism, many on the left sympathize with the Palestinians, seeing the struggle as part of a broader anti-colonial struggle against an oppressive power structure. Casey Robert Goonan, for example, conducted several non-lethal firebombings in northern California in 2024. Goonan claimed he was inspired by Hamas, and his lawyer contended Goonan sought to end what he considered to be Israel’s genocide in Gaza and support Palestinian liberation.

The al-Saadi arrest suggests state-sponsored terrorism against Jewish targets is now an additional concern. Historically, state sponsors can increase groups’ and individuals’ capabilities, making them more dangerous through better weapons, training, and other assistance. At the same time, states often inject a note of caution, fearing retaliation or escalation. Iran so far appears to be working with criminals or otherwise simply offering money in exchange for attacks rather than training operatives for a massive operation. This may be because Iran’s own capabilities are limited or because Tehran is focusing more on deniability and avoiding escalation than on pulling off a spectacular attack. It also makes “soft” (i.e., less-defended) Jewish targets like synagogues and community centers more likely to be attacked than harder targets, such as Israeli diplomatic facilities.

The particulars of anti-Jewish violence will change depending on world events and the zeitgeist: Many terrorists are surprisingly trendy. War against Iran shapes one form of anti-Jewish violence, while the continuation, or especially the high-profile renewal, of Israel-Hamas violence shapes the perceptions of the far-left and jihadists. Neo-Nazis remain a constant threat.

This diversity complicates intelligence collection, prevention, and resource allocation, as law enforcement cannot focus on a single ideology, network, or profile of attacker. The myriad perpetrators make it harder to prioritize resources. There is no overwhelming threat, and counterterrorism resources were already stretched before the Iran war. Because local Jewish communities have little choice but to fall back on defenses, synagogues, schools, and community centers increasingly resemble hardened targets, protected by guards, cameras, barriers, and emergency drills once associated primarily with embassies or military facilities.

The burden of security is likely to remain permanent rather than temporary. Yet defensive measures alone cannot fully solve the problem, particularly when attackers range from lone actors radicalized online to operatives linked to hostile states. The rise in anti-Jewish terrorism is thus not simply a challenge for the Jewish community, but a broader warning about the fragmentation of the extremist landscape in the West: Movements with radically different worldviews are increasingly converging around shared enemies, shared grievances, and a shared willingness to use violence.

Daniel Byman is the director of the Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. He is also a professor in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.