Alarming reality: the majority of Jewish students worldwide are forced to hide their identity
In university campuses around the world, a tragedy is unfolding that was recently hard to imagine. A new global study reveals the shocking truth: the overwhelming majority of Jewish students live in fear, hiding their identity to feel safe.
The numbers speak for themselves
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the World Union of Jewish Students conducted a large-scale survey among 1,727 students from more than 60 countries in the 2024-2025 academic year. The results were more than alarming:
- 78% of Jewish students are forced to hide their religious affiliation
- 81% cannot openly express support for Israel
- One in three knows Jewish peers who have received physical threats
- One in five personally knows victims of physical attacks on campuses
Imagine: young people, who should be freely developing and learning, instead make a daily decision — whether to remove the Star of David, remain silent about their roots, or avoid the Jewish center on campus. This is not just statistics — it’s the maimed destinies of an entire generation.
Students talk about constant tension, the need to “camouflage”, avoid any manifestations of their identity. Many change their routes across campus, refrain from participating in Jewish events, and live in isolation from their own culture and traditions.
“This study documented a grim situation, which in its intensity reminds of the times preceding the Holocaust, when Jews had to hide their identity to survive,” Marina Rosenberg Koritny, Head of the Department for the Promotion of Aliyah of the World Union of Jewish Communities, comments with pain. — Against the backdrop of growing hostility, more and more young Jews are looking towards Israel. They consider the possibility of obtaining education in Israeli universities and link their future with the Jewish state.”
