The Abraham Global Peace Initiative said it was alarmed by new Toronto police data showing that Jews accounted for 82% of all religiously motivated hate crime targets in the city in 2025, while warning that antisemitic incidents have continued rising sharply in 2026.
The organization issued the statement on Thursday following the publication of the Toronto Police Service 2025 Annual Hate Crime Statistical Report, which found that anti-Jewish incidents represented the overwhelming majority of religiously motivated hate crimes reported in Toronto. Anti-Muslim occurrences accounted for 14%.
The report also stated that hate crimes overall have already increased by 40% in 2026 compared to the same period last year.
While welcoming a broader decline in total hate crimes during 2025, the Abraham Global Peace Initiative (AGPI), said the renewed increase this year highlighted what it described as a continuing threat posed by antisemitism and extremist rhetoric.
“The sharp increase underscores that antisemitism and extremist hate remain a serious and growing threat to public safety and social cohesion,” the organization said.
The police report noted that more than 375 protests and demonstrations related to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East occurred in 2025.
AGPI founder and CEO Avi Abraham Benlolo said the findings demonstrated the scale of the threat facing Jewish communities and stressed the importance of law enforcement efforts targeting hate crimes and incitement.
“AGPI has consistently advocated for the strong enforcement of the law against antisemitism, hate crimes, extremism, and incitement,” Benlolo said. “These statistics confirm both the seriousness of the threat facing the Jewish community and the importance of proactive policing, arrests, and meaningful criminal consequences.”
The report also pointed to increased enforcement activity by Toronto police. Approximately 32% of hate crime investigations in 2025 resulted in arrests, compared to 25% in 2024. Police said the case-to-arrest ratio had doubled since 2023.
Authorities arrested 73 individuals in connection with hate-motivated offenses, leading to 217 criminal charges.
AGPI commended the Toronto Police Service Hate Crime Unit, Counter-Terrorism Security Unit, and Chief Myron Demkiw for strengthening investigations and improving reporting systems, while warning that shootings targeting synagogues, threats against Jewish institutions, and extremist rhetoric require broader national attention.
“Antisemitism is not simply a Jewish problem — it is a threat to democracy, public safety, and the stability of our society,” Benlolo said.
