The number of reported antisemitic attacks in Germany doubled from 2015 to 2016, according to an annual report on antisemitism released by the Diaspora Affairs Ministry on Sunday, ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day this Friday.
Education and Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett (Bayit Yehudi) presented the report at the weekly cabinet meeting.
While in 2015, there were 194 reported antisemitic incidents reported in Germany between January to September, last year that number rose to 461.
According to the ministry, this increase is in part due to the refugee crisis and the strengthening of the extreme Right, but also the result of an improvement in the reporting of incidents.
Britain saw an even more dramatic increase, with 62% more antisemitic incidents recorded than the previous year, 75% of them based on political motives affiliated with the extreme right.
Social media continues to be a platform for hate speech, enabling a rise in antisemitic expression; according to the report, 40 million users were exposed to antisemitic post on Twitter in the month of October alone.
Meanwhile in France, government efforts to counter the phenomenon of anitsemitism proved successful, with a 65% drop in reported incidents.
The report also referred to “ongoing antisemitic incitement in the Palestinian Authority,” accusing it of systematically using religious and antisemitic narratives to foster hatred among Palestinians against Israelis and Jews.
A rise in antisemitic rhetoric from US and European politicians too was highlighted, as well as the growth of both the Alt-right and radical leftist organizations in Europe and the US.
In the latter, the US presidential campaign was a major catalyst for the dissemination of hate speech and enabled the voices of marginal groups to reach far beyond their own communities.
The report noted that the common thread between these groups was an opposition to political correctness, racial supremacism, resistance to multiculturalism and immigration.
These ideas, the ministry said, lead to antisemitic discourse and Holocaust denial.
The report also found a hostile environment for Jewish students on US campuses; the ministry stated that activity by the Students for Justice in Palestine group led to a 45% rise in antisemitic incidents on campus in 2016.
Recorded antisemitic incidents experienced by Jewish professors and students included harassment and abuse, antisemitic graffiti, messages and both verbal and physical assaults. Meanwhile, the number of events organized by the Jewish student organizations and then forced to cancel doubled.
Overall, the report concludes, the number of anti-Semitic incidents around the globe has increased, as has the number of incidents on the internet and social media. “Violent protests against Jewish communities, and harming Jews with the claim that Israel is a bloodthirsty country is a slippery slope that legitimizes anti-Semitism and encourages incitement and the harming of Jews around the world,” the ministry stated.
“This year too we see a dramatic increase in the number of antisemitic attacks and the entrance of antisemitic discourse into politics,” said Bennett.
He called on governments around the world to take action to decisively combat antisemitism, pointing to the French authorities’ success in reducing the amount of incidents in their country. “We must act with great effort to ensure the existence of full, thriving Jewish life in the diaspora.’
Diaspora Affairs Ministry Director General Dvir Kahana noted that the ministry in recent months began operation a new monitoring network to identify online antisemitism.
This, he said, is the result of a “thorough mapping process in order to remove content and perform continuous survey of the locations and type of antisemitism at any given moment.” The ministry is additionally working on establishing uniform worldwide standards to dealing with antisemitism, to be used in legislation in different countries against hate crimes, including antisemitism and Holocaust denial.
The government on Sunday also approved the definition of the international definition of antisemitism, formulated in May by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Israel is the second country, after Britain, to adopt the definition.
Secretary General of World Bnei Akiva (WBA) Roi Abecassis responded to the release of the report, stating that the statistics were consistent with reports received by WBA over the year from its 150 representatives around the world.
“The proper response to this worrying trend, both on ideological and practical levels, is to reinforce the connection between the new, younger generation to Judaism and to cultivate its bond with the State of Israel, the only country in the world where Jews control their own fate.” said Abecassis.
“This bond also grants young people in Jewish communities around the world the tools they need to serve as faithful ambassadors of Judaism and the State of Israel, both on social networks and universities.
These statistics should be our adrenaline to expand our efforts to other countries while widening our scope of representatives in the Diaspora.”
