Anti-semitic hate incidents in Britain increased by 11% in the first six months of 2016 saw compared to the same period in 2015, according to the latest report by the Community Security Trust (CST) watchdog which reports anti-Semitic incidents since 1984.

CST recorded 557 anti-Semitic incidents nationwide during the first half of 2016, compared to 500 antisemitic incidents during the first six months of 2015.

This total of 557 incidents is the second-highest CST has ever recorded in the January-June period of any year.

The highest total for the first half of any year came in 2009, when 629 antisemitic incidents were recorded due to anti-Semitic reactions to the conflict in Israel and Gaza in January 2009.

The 557 recorded anti-Semitic incidents included 41 violent assaults, a 13 per cent fall from the first half of 2015. None of these violent incidents were classified by CST as ‘Extreme Violence’, which would mean they involved potential grievous bodily harm or threat to life.

There were 32 incidents of Damage & Desecration of Jewish property in the first six months of 2016; 431 incidents of Abusive Behaviour, including verbal abuse, anti-Semitic graffiti, anti-Semitic abuse via social media and one-off cases of hate mail, 43 direct anti-Semitic threats and 10 cases of mass-mailed anti-Semitic leaflets or emails.

The most common single type of incident in the first six months of 2016 involved verbal abuse randomly directed at visibly Jewish people in public. In 195 incidents, the victims were Jewish people, male or female, attacked or abused while going about their daily business in public places. In at least 87 of these incidents, the victims were visibly Jewish, usually due to their religious or traditional clothing, school uniform or jewellry bearing Jewish symbols.

Over three-quarters of the 557 antisemitic incidents were recorded in Greater London and Greater Manchester, the two largest Jewish communities in the UK. However, these two cities saw opposing trends during this period. CST recorded 379 antisemitic incidents in Greater London, a rise of 62 per cent from the same period in 2015, but in Greater Manchester CST recorded 62 antisemitic incidents, a fall of 54 per cent.

CST Chief Executive David Delew commented the figures: ‘’This rise in reported anti-Semitism comes at a time when division, intolerance and prejudice appear to be deepening within our society. Reversing this worrying trend requires real leadership from all political parties, and for the social media companies to take their share of the responsibility.’’

According to CST, there is no obvious single cause for the increase in recorded anti-Semitic incidents, most of which came in April, May and June, when CST recorded 99, 125 and 112 incidents respectively.

‘’The long term trend shows that the number of anti-Semitic incidents has remained at a relatively high level since the summer of 2014, when the UK saw a large spike in anti-Semitic incidents in relation to the conflict in Israel and Gaza that year. Since then, average monthly antiSemitic incident totals have ranged between 80 and 100 antisemitic incidents per month, whereas in the two years before that summer they ranged between 40 and 60 incidents per month,’’ says the CST report.

Social media has become an essential tool for coordinated campaigns of anti-Semitic harassment, abuse and threats directed at Jewish politicians, student activists and other individuals, often using content generated centrally on neo-Nazi websites.

MP John Mann, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Anti-Semitism, declared: ‘’This is a worrying rise in incidents set against a backdrop of increasing hate crime across the country. The message should go out to everyone that we will not stand for antisemitism, perpetrators of hate crimes against Jews will be caught and prosecuted and the bystanders must be educated.’’

British Interior Minister Amber Rudd condemned the "deplorable rise in anti-Semitic hate incidents" and vowed to continue working with law enforcement partners and with the Jewish community to ensure their safety and security.’’

Communities Minister Sajid Javid stressed that ‘’there can be no excuses for anti-Semitism or any other form of racism or prejudice. Crimes must always be reported, and the law enforced, but we also want to create an environment that prevents hate crime from happening in the first place.’’

European Jewish Congress President Moshe Kantor commented: "Unfortunately, we see a significant rise in hate against Jews in the UK. There are no events to explain it, nor conflicts involving Israel, clearly demonstrating that Anti-Semitism is not tied to anything except the simple unabashed hatred of Jews. I hope all those looking for trends or triggers will clearly understand that Anti-Semitism remains one of the oldest hatreds and work with us to combat it."