The PA State Capitol building. (Acroterion/WikiCommons)
The Pennsylvania Senate Majority Policy Committee held a public hearing Sept. 30 to analyze the state’s increase in antisemitic incidents and determine how to best combat the issue.
Senate Majority Policy Committee Chair Dave Argall said the hearing was held to address a problem that Jewish Pennsylvanians know is all too present.
“We convened this hearing because Pennsylvania is facing an ongoing problem — antisemitic incidents across the commonwealth remain at unprecedented levels,” he said. “These are not isolated episodes we can ignore. Action must be taken to better protect Jewish communities.”
An ADL report from 2025 showed Pennsylvania had the fourth-highest rate of antisemitic harassment, vandalism and assault in the country.
The ADL recorded about an 18% increase in incidents in 2024 compared to 2023, with Pennsylvania reporting 465 incidents of antisemitism that year and 394 the year before. Through June of 2025, the ADL had tracked 76 antisemitic incidents in Pennsylvania.
Across the country, antisemitic incidents decreased from 2024 to 2025, but the ADL found that antisemitic assaults increased over that time period.
Pennsylvania’s Jewish governor, Josh Shapiro, was also targeted in an antisemitic attack.. In April 2025, a man harboring antisemitic beliefs scaled the outer wall at the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion and set part of the house on fire.
Argall said the hearing was a necessary step to not just protect Pennsylvania’s Jewish community, but to preserve the standards the commonwealth was founded on.
“Every attack on a member of the Jewish community is an abhorrent insult to the values we share as a commonwealth,” he said. “We are bringing together local leaders, law enforcement and community organizations to identify practical strategies to counter antisemitism and ensure every Pennsylvanian feels safe and supported.”
A recording of the hearing is available on the PA Senate Republicans website.
aguckes@midatlanticmedia.com