The number of anti-Semitic incidents reported in the United Kingdom hit a record high in 2019 and increased for the fourth consecutive year, according to figures released on Feb. 6 by the Community Security Trust.
There were 1,805 anti-Semitic incidents in 2019 in Britain, a rise of 7% from the previous year and the highest number ever recorded by the CST.
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CST chief executive David Delew said "2019 was another difficult year for British Jews, and it is no surprise that recorded anti-Semitic incidents reached yet another high. It is clear that both social media and mainstream politics are places where anti-Semitism and racism need to be driven out, if things are to improve in the future."
The CST said increases in the number of incidents occurred "at a time when Jews, anti-Semitism and the Labour Party were the repeated subjects of national controversy," and that the "debate about Brexit also made this a politically contentious time during which recorded hate crime rose more generally, affecting many communities."
Thirty-nine percent of all incidents in 2019 were related to online anti-Semitism, with the vast majority taking place on Twitter. A total of 157 physical assaults were reported in 2019 – up 27% from 2018.
CST also identified 224 incidents as "Labour Party-related" and 126 as far-right.
The trust stated that heightened media coverage of anti-Semitism and the Labour's anti-Semitism problem, in particular, may have led to increased attacks in 2019, while on the far-right, "relative stability points to an anti-Semitism that is less volatile and reactive."
