A new study by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has found significant discrimination against Jewish and Israeli American job-seekers in the US labor market, with Jewish candidates needing to submit nearly 25% more applications to receive equivalent employer responses compared to those with Western European backgrounds, FOX Business reports.
The research, released by the ADL Center for Antisemitism Research under economist Bryan Tomlin, PhD, revealed that for those with Israeli backgrounds, the disparity was even greater at 39% more applications needed.
NEW: Our latest study found substantial discrimination against Jewish & Israeli American job candidates in the US.
Compared to Americans with Western European backgrounds, these applicants needed to send 24% and 39% more applications to receive the same number of positive first… pic.twitter.com/1xFXJvHhte
— ADL (@ADL) December 4, 2024
"We see a clear pattern of discrimination through this empirical research, which bears out what we had heard anecdotally," ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said. "There is real implications at our labor market where Jewish and Israeli people are being discriminated against."
The study, conducted between May and October 2024, analyzed 3,000 applications for administrative assistant positions across the United States. Researchers used identical resumes and email text, varying only applicant names and background signals to indicate Jewish, Israeli, or Western European heritage.
Greenblatt noted the findings come amid broader concerns about antisemitism in American society. He cited examples of anti-Israel protests on college campuses and harassment at synagogues as creating a "poisoning of the environment" for Jewish and Israeli job-seekers.
The ADL CEO referenced a recent incident at UCLA, where a complaint alleged the student government commissioner of cultural affairs warned against hiring "Zionists" and created a "no hire list." According to Campus Reform, applications from students who wrote about their Jewish heritage were rejected, regardless of whether they mentioned the current conflict in Gaza.
"We've seen across different industries – therapists, entertainers, investors, authors, all being targeted, excluded, not hired simply because they are Jewish," Greenblatt explained. "Now, we have the empirical data that substantiates" these concerns.
