ADL: Post-Oct. 7 Antisemitism Surge Still Haunts New Hampshire

By Michael Graham, NH Journal

The good news: Antisemitic incidents in New Hampshire dropped by about one-third last year.

The bad news: They’re still happening twice as often in the Granite State as before Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

That’s according to the Anti-Defamation League’s 2025 New England Audit, which tracks antisemitic activity across the region. In every state, the story is the same: a massive spike in attacks, vandalism, and threats targeting Jews in the wake of the 2023 terror attack, followed by modest declines.

There were 34 antisemitic incidents in New Hampshire last year, a 36 percent decrease from 2024, when 53 were reported. But in 2022, there were only 14 incidents, and just seven the year before.

“The fact that antisemitic assaults have not decreased over two years since Oct. 7, 2023, is a sobering reminder that this fight is far from over, and that the safety of Jewish communities depends on our collective willingness to meet this moment with urgency,” the ADL said in its national report.

Three people were killed in antisemitic attacks in the U.S. in 2025, the first year since 2019 in which Jewish people were murdered in the U.S. by antisemitic violence.

In New Hampshire, outright assault is rare — just one case last year — but harassment and vandalism jumped beginning in late 2023. Seven Jewish institutions, including synagogues, were targeted with bomb threats and threatening letters.

Perhaps the most disturbing trend for the future is that the embrace of anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian politics among progressive Democrats is likely to add to the antisemitic atmosphere in the state’s politics.

Chants of “From the River to the Sea” and “Free Palestine” are common at progressive political rallies in the Granite State. State Rep. Heath Howard (D-Strafford) is seeking the NH-01 Democratic congressional nomination, campaigning on the message that Israel has no right to exist and there should be no Jewish state.

His colleague, state Rep. Ellen Read (D-Newmarket), was the only elected official in the country to join an anti-Israel flotilla attempting to bring aid to Hamas-controlled Gaza last September.

Samantha Joseph, ADL’s New England regional director, said the line between criticism and antisemitism is crossed when the target of criticism is a Jewish business or institution, such as a synagogue.

“Saying Free Palestine is a political statement,” Joseph said. “Free Palestine written on a brick going through a Jewish business or spray-painted on a synagogue is antisemitism.”

Even Granite State Democrats who were once viewed as moderate have taken anti-Israel stances. U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen voted to block military aid to Israel, and she falsely accused Israel of attempting to starve Gazans during their war with Hamas, a claim that has been debunked.

One significant incident for both the ADL and the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire involved a House Republican, state Rep. Matt Sabourin dit Choinière (R-Seabrook). He arranged for Holocaust denier Germar Rudolf to testify before the state’s Commission on Holocaust and Genocide Education. Rudolf, who served jail time in Germany before being deported to the U.S., testified along with two other Holocaust deniers before the legislature, thanks to Sabourin dit Choinière.

The Seabrook Republican’s actions were denounced by Gov. Kelly Ayotte, state Rep. Brian Cole (R-Manchester), and Americans for Prosperity. Both the ADL and the state’s Jewish Federation called upon the state representative to be censured.

“The broader lesson here is that antisemitism rarely begins with violence,” said Jewish Federation of New Hampshire Executive Director Erik Martin. “It more often begins with attempts to distort truth and test the boundaries of what communities are willing to respond to.”

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.