The number of anti-Semitic, violent crimes increased last year to the highest level since 2014, researchers found.
Such crimes in 2019 increased by 18% from 2018, according to a report from Tel Aviv University. The data was detailed in the Annual Report on Antisemitism Worldwide 2019, which was presented on Monday by the European Jewish Congress.
The total number of violent anti-Semitic crimes tallied was 456, a five-year high, with more than 25% of those classified as violent threats. The report found that there were 242 cases of vandalism, 62 physical assaults, about a quarter of which involved a weapon, and 21 instances of arson.
“Not only have the numbers increased substantially, but the worst types of attacks grew, which should be extremely disturbing for leaders and authorities around the world,” said Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, in a statement.
There have been continued fears about growing anti-Semitism in Europe. In November, a poll was released that found about a quarter of Western Europeans harbor anti-Semitic attitudes. Another survey conducted at the end of last year found that 1 in 5 Europeans believe in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that Jews influence the world’s economy and politics.
Kantor also said that there has been a rash of anti-Semitic accusations blaming Jewish people for having a hand in the coronavirus pandemic since the global health crisis began.
Some public figures in a variety of countries have promoted conspiracy theories about the contagion. Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed that the virus, which has devastated Iran, was “produced in laboratories” and was a biological weapon.
The illness has infected almost 2.5 million people worldwide and killed at least 168,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.
