Preface

Since the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, the landscape of political violence and extremist mobilisation within the United States has undergone a marked transformation. The proliferation of pro-Palestinian demonstrations has not only catalysed public debate regarding the boundaries of legitimate dissent but has also exposed fault lines where radical left and progressive activist milieus demonstrate their capacity to incubate and transmit extremist narratives, including overt antisemitic and anti-institutional messaging. Amid this contentious environment, new actor profiles have emerged - most notably individuals such as Elias Rodriguez, a Latino-American perpetrator whose violent targeting of Jewish and Israeli-linked individuals in the Washington, D.C. Museum shooting represented a break with conventional, religiously coded patterns of lone-actor terrorism.

This report systematically interrogates the dynamics of radicalisation and threat escalation within these increasingly heterogenous protest ecosystems. The analysis delineates how ideological cross-pollination (i.e. “red-green” alliances), campaign funding structures, and the operationalisation of anti-Israel solidarity have converged to generate new risks for both Jewish communities and foundational democratic values in the United States. The aim is to offer an evidence-based assessment of emergent threat phenomena, accompanied by policy-relevant recommendations to counter the adaptive nature of domestic extremism.

Executive Summary

Escalation…