In 2024, the Netherlands recorded a deeply troubling milestone: the highest number of antisemitic incidents ever documented in the country.
According to the Anti-Semitic Incident Monitor released today by CIDI (Centre for Information and Documentation on Israel), 421 incidents were registered over the past year—an 11% increase compared to 2023, which was already marked as historically high. This figure is the highest since CIDI began recording such incidents forty years ago, underscoring a rapidly worsening trend.
To put the figures into perspective, the average number of incidents between 2012 and 2022 was 138 per year. Over the past two years, the number has surged by an alarming 305%, signalling what CIDI now describes as an antisemitism crisis.
While around 1,700 reports were made to CIDI in 2024, only a quarter were formally classified as unmistakably antisemitic. It is worth noting that this tally excludes antisemitic expressions on social media, which are the subject of ongoing, separate research. CIDI stresses that criticism of Israeli government policy, while often conflated with antisemitism, is not categorised as such in its assessments.
Public spaces in particular have become increasingly hostile for visibly Jewish individuals, with a 45% rise in confrontations involving insults, threats, and harassment. Vandalism against Jewish targets also rose by 44%, with mezuzahs torn from doorposts and Jewish cemeteries and monuments defaced. Jewish students, feeling unsafe, are reported to be skipping lectures due to fear of discrimination or attack.
The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has acted as a significant catalyst for the surge in antisemitic incidents. A particularly shocking example occurred on 7 November 2024, following a football match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Groups of citizens reportedly “hunted Jews” in a violent spree that left dozens injured and led to more than 50 arrests. The first convictions were issued in December, with further legal proceedings ongoing.
Online platforms remain a fertile ground for antisemitic abuse. While antisemitic commentary in 2023 largely revolved around posts related to Israel, in 2024, virtually any reference to Jewish identity or culture—including Jewish holidays or commemorative events such as Stolpersteine placements—has provoked hateful reactions. Social media algorithms are accelerating the dissemination of such content, amplifying its reach. CIDI argues that digital platforms must finally accept their responsibility to counter hate speech and discrimination.
The normalisation of antisemitism must be avoided at all costs, CIDI warns. The organisation calls for a robust and multi-faceted government response. While Holocaust education is frequently cited as a solution, CIDI argues that this approach, on its own, is insufficient and potentially dangerous. Antisemitism is a persistent societal issue that demands a coherent strategy: increased educational investment, assertive intervention in schools and online spaces, a halt to subsidies for institutions that marginalise Jewish voices, the prohibition of extremist and terrorist groups promoting hate, and uncompromising law enforcement against antisemitic crimes and speech.
Crucially, anonymity online must not shield perpetrators. Data protection must not be used to shelter those inciting hatred and violence.
Tragically, data from the first quarter of 2025 suggests the crisis is far from over. If this trajectory is not arrested, yet another record will likely be broken by year’s end. The Netherlands now faces not just a wave, but a full-fledged crisis of antisemitism—one that demands immediate, firm, and lasting action.
