JANUARY

U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) is named chairman of the House Intelligence Committee by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Newly-elected Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) accuses Jews of dual loyalty, saying those who oppose the anti-Israel BDS movement “forgot what country they represent.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Shultz (D-FL) as well as many Jewish women’s organizations disassociate themselves from the national Women’s March organization over the failure of its leaders to condemn antisemitism.

Author Alice Walker issues a glowing endorsement of a book by antisemitic conspiracy theorist David Icke, in which he talks about “Jewish members of the conspiracy.”

The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute rescinds an award to African-American activist Angela Davis, an outspoken critic of Israel, allegedly due to complaints from Jewish leaders. The award is later reinstated.

“Game of Thrones” creator George R.R. Martin, appearing on the celebrity genealogy show  “Finding Your Roots,” discovers he’s nearly a quarter Jewish.  His stunned response: “You’ve uprooted my worldview.”

Despite her accusation that Israel is engaged in “evil doings” and has “hypnotized the world,” pro-BDS Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is awarded a coveted seat on the House Foreign Relations Committee.

The Forward, one of the longest-running Jewish publications in the US, ceases its print edition and lays off its editor-in-chief and many staff. 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis enacts sanctions against Airbnb following the company’s decision to boycott Judea and Samaria. Airbnb later rescinds the boycott.

A measles outbreak that began with a trickle in haredi Orthodox communities in Israel and New York last year exploded into a full-on public health crisis in 2019. Hundreds of cases were reported in New York and thousands in Israel.

In two separate incidents, two Jews are attacked while walking in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn.

FEBRUARY

Wide receiver Julian Edelman is named Most Valuable Player after the New England Patriots beat the Lost Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl.

The Republican Jewish Coalition announces a $10 million ad campaign painting the Democrats as a “shanda” – Yiddish for “disgrace” – in part because of their position on Israel.

Rep. Ilhan Omar says AIPC paid politicians to be pro-Israel – a falsehood that draws immediate rebukes. 

Elan Carr is appointed as the State Department’s special envoy to monitor antisemitism.

The French Interior Minister releases a report stating that the number of recorded antisemitic acts in France soared by 74 percent in 2018.

Two days after the brutal rape and murder of a young Israeli woman, Palestinian Authority TV broadcasts a song celebrating the murder.

Cheered on by the world, Israel’s unmanned spacecraft, Beresheet, launches into orbit and is set to land on the moon April 11. 

MARCH

Rep. Ilhan Omar raises the trope of “dual loyalty,” saying, “I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK to push for allegiance to a foreign country.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortz (D-NY) says AIPAC has “officially” targeted her. Except, it didn’t and hasn’t, officially or otherwise.

Belen Sisa, a campaign aide to Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, apologizes for a Facebook post in which she suggests that American Jews are guilty of dual loyalty.

Writer and adventurer Blair Braverman is the second Jewish woman to complete the historic Iditarod sled dog race after she crosses the finish line in 36th place. 

Just in time for his 140th birthday, Albert Einstein’s brilliance, humor and love of Israel is revealed in the content of manuscripts newly acquired and archived at Hebrew University.

Michael Steinhardt, the Jewish megadonor who helped found Birthright Israel and supports a wide range of Jewish institutions, was accused of a pattern of propositioning and sexually inappropriate remarks to women.

In a news report, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour identifies the northern Israeli city of Haifa as being located in the West Bank. She does not correct the error.

A parade in Belgium provokes international uproar for a float featuring giant Orthodox figures grinning on top of bags of money. Jewish groups condemn it as antisemitic but organizers defend it. 

APRIL

On the last day of Passover, a gunman opens fire at a Chabad synagogue in the San Diego suburb of Poway, killing one woman. He says he did it because “Jewish people are destroying the white race.”

The ADL reports that 1,879 antisemitic incidents occurred in Britain in 2018, the third-highest tally in four decades. 

A Claims Conference survey reveals that a third of all Americans believe the scope of the murder of Jews in the Holocaust has been exaggerated.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerges victorious in a contentious Israeli election, and is tasked with forming Israel’s next government.

Vlodymyr Zelensky is elected Ukraine’s first Jewish president – making the country the first outside of Israel to have both a Jewish president and prime minister.

After widespread condemnation and an initial statement that critics call inadequate, the international edition of The New York Times apologizes for publishing an antisemetic political cartoon.

The Israeli spacecraft Beresheet successfully enters the moon’s orbit in its last major step before landing on the moon, making Israel the seventh country ever to enter the moon’s orbit. 

MAY

Despite an emergency motion filed in court by UMass Amherst students, an anti-Israel event organized by UMass Communication Department chair Sut Jahlly, director of the NGO Media Education Foundation, goes on.

Massachusetts state and federal law enforcement agencies investigate three suspicious fires set within one week at two Boston area Chabad synagogues. 

NYU welcomes Saturday Night Live alum Steven Thrasher as graduation speaker. In his speech, he praises the BDS movement “against the apartheid state government in Israel.”

When Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netnyahu is unable to form a coalition government, a second national election in five months is scheduled. 

El Al debuts direct flights between Tokyo and Tel Aviv.

The Genesis Prize Foundation has granted $1 million toward Beresheet 2, a second attempt to land an Israeli spacecraft on the moon. The first Beresheet mission crash landed on the moon on April 11.

JUNE

Three members of Congress announced on Monday, June 3 the launch of the bipartisan Black-Jewish congressional caucus.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft announces the establishment of a foundation dedicated to combating antisemitism as he accepts the Genesis Prize award in Jerusalem.

Germany’s antisemitism commissioner suggests that Jews might be wise not to wear their kippot when out in public.

The European Court of Justice advocate general says under EU law labels must make it clear if products originate from “occupied” territories. 

The Tel Aviv Pride Parade, the largest gay parade in the Middle East, draws 250,000 marchers, including actor Neil Patrick Harris, who serves as the parade’s International Ambassador.

The DC Dyke March bans flags and banners that represent “nations that have specific oppressive tendencies.” The Jewish Pride flag of rainbow colors with a white Star of David is banned. Palestinian flags are welcome, however. 

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston buys two pairs of rare Torah finials, bidding $500,000 for the 17th-century German silver set. The set is considered among the earliest surviving examples of the ritual Torah ornaments.

The Supreme Court allows a 40-foot memorial cross to remain standing on public land in Maryland. To emphasize her displeasure, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg reads her dissent aloud.

Sara Netanyahu, wife of the Israeli prime minister, admits to misusing state funds.

More than 350 people gather for a rally against antisemitism and hate in Peabody, Mass., after motorists shouted antisemitic slurs at two Chabad rabbis walking on Shabbat.

JULY

A tweet in which Louis Farrakhan compares Jews to termites is no longer available on Twitter, after the platform introduces new rules prohibiting “language that dehumanizes others on the basis of religion.” 

The Canadian government reports that Jews were the most targeted minority group for the third straight year, even as hate crimes against other groups fell. 

Jews all across the world mark the 25th yahrzeit of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson z”l. 

Max Berger, a staffer for Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) 2020 presidential campaign, comes under fire for his past anti-Israel activism, including posting a 2013 tweet that he “would totally be friends with Hamas.” 

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar formally introduces a resolution supporting the anti-Israel BDS movement, comparing it to boycotts of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. 

The Israeli space-tech startup NSLComm of Airport City launches NSLSat-1, the world’s first expandable high-performance communications nano-satellite.

A high school in Boca Raton, Fla., removes a principal who told a parent that he needed to remain neutral on whether or not the Holocaust occurred.

The Palestinian Authority doubles the monthly salary it pays to the terrorist who planned the 2014 kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens.

Former NY Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind sues Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, after she blocks him on Twitter because he criticized her for calling migrant detention centers “concentration camps.” 

Israeli actress Gal Gadot will star in the biggest feature film ever made by Netflix, “Red Notice,” also starring Ryan Reynolds and Duane Johnson, it is announced.

Norway and six EU countries voted at the UN in favor of two resolutions that singled out Israel as a violator of women’s and human rights.

Rock band Bon Jovi performs in front of some 50,000 people in Tel Aviv, despite pressure from the BDS movement not to perform.

A Berlin rabbi is verbally abused and spat on, one of several recent attacks on Jews in the German capital.

AUGUST

The British Jewish community’s antisemitism watchdog reports the highest number of antisemitic incidents ever in the first six months of 2019.

In Brooklyn, a spate of violent attacks against visibly Jewish victims cause alarm. In response, the city creates the Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, led by a former ADL official.

Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez visit Israel, where Lopez performs at Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park. 

An Orthodox Jewish woman has been tapped to head the National Security Agency’s new Cybersecurity Directorate, Anne Neuberger of Baltimore.

Israel’s government announces that it won’t allow Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib to make their scheduled visit to the Jewish state because both have declared support for the Israel boycott movement. 

Rep. Rashida Tlaib calls for a boycott of comedian Bill Maher’s HBO show “Real Time” after he calls the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel a “bulls**t purity test.”

Rabbi Avraham Gopin, cousin of West Hartford Rabbi Joseph Gopin, is brutally assaulted in Brooklyn, NY. The attack, he tells CBS New York, was clearly motivated by “hate.”

Sagi Muki of Israel wins the gold medal at the 2019 World Judo Championships, becoming the first male in his country to accomplish the feat.

Antisemitic fliers saying that Jews and Israel were behind the 9/11 attacks appear in Northern California, about 30 miles from San Francisco.

SEPTEMBER

Author and lawyer Alan Dershowitz’ new memoir, Defending Israel: The Story of My Relationship with My Most Challenging Client, is called a must-read for Israel advocates.

Actor Sacha Baron Cohen’s new Netflix film “The Spy” tells the true story of Eli Cohen, the daring 1960s Israeli agent who helped Israel win the Six Day War.

In Australia, two disturbing acts of antisemitism by children against children prompt Jewish parents to remove their bullied kids from school.

Hate fliers are circulated in a Montana town on Rosh Hashanah. 

Four Israeli universities are ranked among the top 50 undergraduate programs in the world that produce the most successful entrepreneurs, according to a new study.

Israeli singer Netta Barzilai is rumored to have a role in the Will Ferrell-Rachel McAdams Netflix film “Eurovision.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs into law a bill that protects the right of Jewish residents to place a mezuzah on their doorposts, including dormitory rooms and apartments.

Thirty Jewish scholars and activists meet in Jerusalem to hammer out a Declaration of Our Common Destiny, meant to start a worldwide discussion about the shared values and principles by which world Jewry will treat, support and engage one another. 

Amazon officially launches its service in Israel.

Temple Sinai in Sharon, Mass. has swastika-like graffiti splashed over the large Star of David in the pavement near the synagogue’s front entryway.

The Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York City reveals a shofar that was hidden and blown in the Auschwitz 75 years ago and never shown to the public before.

Hundreds of demonstrators rally in front of City Hall in New York, calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio and other local and national leaders to act against the wave of antisemitic hate crimes taking place against the Orthodox Jewish community. 

OCTOBER 

Blue and White and Likud party leaders Benny Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet to discuss the possibility of forming a unity government.

Jewish groups and lawyers urge the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to stay the scheduled execution of a Jewish inmate who was sentenced by a judge who made antisemitic remarks. Later, the execution is stayed.

A German man tries to blast his way inside a synagogue in the German city of Halle during Yom Kippur services. After killing two people outside the synagogue, he tells police he was motivated by antisemitism.

During the Democratic presidential debate, Sen. Amy Klobuchar is the only candidate to discuss the potential negative impact on Israel of President Trump’s abrupt pullout of U.S. troops from Syria.

Jason Greenblatt, President Trump’s top Middle East peace negotiator, announces that he will leave the White House.

A Facebook campaign ad from an upstate New York county Republican takes aim at the growing Hasidic Jewish community in the county and is slammed as antisemitic.

Ireland becomes the first national parliament in Europe to enshrine into law BDS – the modern day equivalent of discrimination abasing Jews. 

An Israeli flag is defaced with antisemitic symbols found at a Cape Cod synagogue.

A newly published 33-page dossier reveals “systemic antisemitism and an ingrained delegitimization of Israel” at Columbia U and Barnard. 

The Red Sox hire Sabbath observer Chaim Bloom as operations head.

The Houston Astros’ Alex Bregman sets an all-time record for most World Series home runs by a third baseman. 

According to a new American Jewish population estimate, the American Jewish population has grown 10 percent in the past seven years…and is not getting any younger.

Federal authorities arrest Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas and charg the Ukrainian-American businessmen with campaign finance violations related to the burgeoning Trump-Ukraine scandal. 

NOVEMBER

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announces he is joining the pack of Democrats in the race for the party’s presidential nomination.

In an op-ed in The Times of London, Britain’s chief rabbi warns ahead of the country’s general elections that the Labour Party’s antisemitism problem means that the “very soul of our nation is at stake. Read: Don’t vote for Jeremy Corbyn.

Two dozen prominent Brits – including Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, novelist John le Carré, author Fay Weldon and actress Joanna Lumley – say they won’t vote for Labour in Britain’s upcoming elections because of the party’s ongoing antisemitism controversy.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is indicted on multiple charges of corruption, including bribery and breach of public trust. 

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg misses courtroom arguments due to illness. 

The University of Illinois student government passes a resolution that distinguishes antisemitism from anti-Zionism. Many pro-Israel and Jewish students critical of the measure walk out ahead of the vote. 

Michael Solomonov, the award-winning Philadelphia restauranteur, joins the advisory council of an Israeli culinary school set to open in 2021.

Swastikas are found painted on the shells of several turtles in a park outside Seattle.

A vast majority of American Jews consider antisemitism to be a major problem facing the community amid widespread fear that it is increasing, according to a new survey by the American Jewish Committee.

Britain’s oldest Jewish newspaper, the Jewish Chronicle, publishes a front-page editorial calling on fellow Brits not to vote for Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in the upcoming national elections.

The Tree of Life synagogue building, site of the attack a year ago that left 11 worshippers dead, announces plans to reopen as a “center for Jewish life in the United States.” 

Snoop Dogg is the new brand representative for an Israeli cannabis tech startup called Seedo. 

A 29-year-old Orthodox man, father of four, is stabbed multiple times on his walk to synagogue for morning prayers in Spring Valley, NY.

DECEMBER

Actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish, who only learned she was Jewish in her 20s when she met her Eritrean Jewish father, released a Netflix special, “Black Mitzvah,” on the same day she celebrated her bat mitzvah. 

Jack Black, Haim, the Flaming Lips, Yo La Tengo and other prominent artists record songs for anew  Chanukah album entitled “Hanukkah+.”

A study reveals that most UC Berkeley supporters of “Palestine” can’t find it on the map. 

Gal Gadot and her husband announce plans to remake an Israeli crime drama for a US audience. Gadot will star in a film about Polish heroine Irena Sendler, who saved 2,500 Jewish children from the Nazis.

Pro-BDS activist Linda Sarsour backs Bernie Sanders…but not his support for Israel.

After Israel’s Likud and Blue & White political parties fail to form a government, an unprecedented third election is set for March 2, 2020.

President Trump signs an executive order on addressing antisemitism amid the rise in hatred towards Jews in education in the United States. The measure is particularly focused on activities on American college campuses, where the anti-Israel BDS movement has taken a hold among students and even faculty.