TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — An annual report by Israeli researchers says anti-Semitic incidents surged worldwide in 2014, with violent attacks on Jews ranging from armed assaults to vandalism against synagogues, schools and cemeteries.
The report, released Wednesday at Tel Aviv University, recorded 766 incidents, mostly in Western Europe, compared to 554 in 2013 — a 38 percent increase.
The report says the increase was partly linked to last summer’s bloody war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip as well as a general climate of hatred and violence encouraged by the rise of the Islamic State group and its gruesome propaganda.
It says 2014 was the second most violent year for Jews in the past decade. It trailed only 2009, which also saw a spike in anti-Semitism following an Israeli war in Gaza.
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