FAQ

ADL has released a body of research documenting the exclusion of Jewish and Israeli voices across American cultural life. It spans three sectors: art museums, entertainment and live performance, and publishing. The museum research draws on a systematic evaluation of 40 leading U.S. art museums, complemented by a survey of U.S. adults. This is ADL’s first research to examine the museum sector this way, and the findings point to a pattern of exclusion that has intensified since October 7, 2023.

Antisemitism in the United States is at historically elevated levels, as documented in ADL’s annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents. Against that backdrop, the ADL Center on Extremism has tracked how extremist and activist groups are increasingly targeting cultural institutions to push Jewish and Israeli voices out of American cultural life — a trend that accelerated sharply after October 7, 2023. Museums occupy a central place in that landscape, and many are facing organized pressure for the first time. This research establishes a clear, documented benchmark so that institutions understand the scope of the problem and are prepared to respond.

Representation matters, and many museums do well on it — as they should. Jewish artists are central to the story of American art, and that work has been collected and exhibited for generations. But what’s on the walls and in a collection often reflects decisions made years, even a decade, ago. Exhibition calendars are set far in advance, which means representation tells you how an institution was operating long before this moment, not how it’s operating today.

Curators are under real pressure right now. Without policies and procedures in place — and without programming, community engagement and recognition of Jewish American Heritage Month — there’s nothing holding that record in place when the pressure comes. Representation tells us where a museum has been. Policy and programming tell us where it’s going.

Museums were selected in consultation with an external panel of experts in the museum, arts and cultural sectors. The goal was a diverse, meaningful cross-section of American museums rather than a ranking of the largest or best-known institutions. Selection accounted for geographic diversity, cultural relevance, institutional size, and a roughly even balance of contemporary and encyclopedic museums. This inaugural group of 40 establishes an initial benchmark for the project.

RAI researchers used a multi-pronged approach: secondary research from publicly available sources (museum websites, exhibition and collection records, published policies, and programming information over the 2016–2026 period), direct outreach through a survey sent to all 40 museums, and a corroboration process. The assessment examines practices across three categories — policies and internal standards; representation in exhibitions, collections and provenance; and partnerships, community engagement and Jewish American Heritage Month recognition. Where structural differences between museum types make a criterion inapplicable, the methodology accounts for that rather than penalizing the institution.

Yes. All 40 museums were contacted directly and given a survey to share information that may not be publicly available, along with context about their policies and activities. They were also given an opportunity to review relevant findings, identify missing information, provide documentation and correct factual inaccuracies before assessments were finalized. Roughly 50% of assessed museums responded. Institutions were neither penalized for declining to participate nor given extra credit for participating; direct engagement was intended to improve accuracy, not to advantage participants.

Jewish American Heritage Month, established by Congress, recognizes Jewish Americans as a people with a shared history, culture and heritage spanning diverse races, ethnicities, languages, national origins and traditions. Judaism encompasses a religion, but Jewish identity is not reducible to religious practice — Jewish Americans include people who are secular, cultural and observant, across widely varying backgrounds. Like other heritage months, JAHM recognizes a people and their contributions to American life, not a faith tradition. Many of the heritage months museums already recognize also encompass communities defined in part by religious tradition or shared historical identity.

ADL is calling on museums to take concrete steps: explicitly name Jewish identity and antisemitism in DEI policies and commitments; recognize Jewish American Heritage Month alongside other heritage observances; resist organized pressure campaigns designed to exclude artists based on identity rather than content; and trust their own audiences, who surveys suggest are broadly supportive of Jewish and Israeli inclusion in the arts.