Israel says global anti-Semitism on the rise
The Israeli government on Sunday reported a global increase in anti-Semitic incidents in 2016, citing sharp rises in Germany, Britain and the United States compared with the previous year. "We have seen an increase in the number of anti-semitic incidents in the world, ranging from anti-semitic insults, especially on social networks, to physical assaults," said a 54-page report published by the diaspora affairs ministry ahead of Friday's international Holocaust remembrance day. It said that the number of incidents reported in Germany was up 50 percent, while Britain showed a 62 percent rise and on US university campuses there were 42 percent more complaints. It linked the rise in Europe to the growing popularity of extreme right-wing parties there. It said the US uptick was fuelled by radical supporters of Donald Trump during heated electioneering. There was, it said, a "rise in anti-Semitism in the presidential campaign" during which "the new right has grown". In the 10 days after Trump's victory, 867 hate crime incidents were recorded in the United States, including 100 involving anti-Semitism, a report by a US-based organisation found. Sunday's report, however, noted a decrease in overt anti-Semitism in France where 65 percent fewer incidents were reported, it said. It credited the fall to Prime Minister Manuel Valls's 100-million-euro anti-racism and anti-Semitism action plan. But it said that French Jews nevertheless remained uneasy. "Despite the decline in anti-semitic acts, Jews in France are not comfortable with the public expression of their Jewish identity," it wrote.
